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PROCEEDINGS

MASSACHUSETTS HISTOEICAL SOCIETY.

Committee of Publication,

CHARLES DEANE.
SAMUEL A. GREEN.
CHARLES C. SMITH.

PROCEEDINGS

assaejrasetis Historical ^aetg,

e <°,

1869-1870.

^ubitsfjeti at tfje Cfjarge of tfje ^eacotij? JFunU.

BOSTON :
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY.

M.DCCC.LXXI.

CAMBRIDGE :
PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON.

PREFATOKY NOTE.

112834

This volume contains a selection from the proceedings
of the Massachusetts Historical Society, beginning
with the Annual Meeting in April, 1869, and ending
with the stated monthly meeting in December, 1870.

The engraved portraits of the Hon. Levi Lincoln,
LL.D., the Eev. Alvan Lamson, D.D., and the Rev.
Nathaniel L. Frothingham, D.D., were furnished by
their respective families, at the request of the Committee ;
and that of Isaac P. Davis, Esq., by our associate Mr.
George T. Davis. They were engraved from photo-
graphs by the artists whose names they bear.

CHARLES DEANE,

For the Committee of Publication.
Boston, March 15, 1871.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Prefatory Note v

Officers elected April, 1870 xiii

Resident Members xiv

Honorary and Corresponding Members xvi

Members Deceased xviii

ANNUAL MEETING, APRIL, 1869.

Letter from Dean Stanley 1

Letter from Rev. W. H. Milman 2

Announcement by the President of the Death of Hon.

George Folsom 3

Letter from Hon. J. Hammond Trumbull 5

Journal of a Tour to Connecticut in the Autumn of 1789, by

Samuel Davis 9

Report of the Standing Committee 32

Report of the Treasurer 34

Report of the Librarian 41

Report of the Cabinet- Keeper 44

List of Officers elected 45

Memoir of Hon. Levi Lincoln, by Hon. Emory Washburn. . 47

MAY MEETING. 84

Letter from Henry I. Bowditch, M.D 85

Remarks on Cornell University, by Hon. John C. Gray ... 85

Draft of Instructions to Agents of Massachusetts Colony ... 92
Biographical Sketch of Isaac P. Davis, Esq., by Hon. George

T. Davis 94

JUNE MEETING. 100

Remarks by the President 100

Letter from Col. Brantz Mayer .103

Viii CONTENTS.

PAGTC

Letter from Hon. Hugh B. Grigsby 105

Remarks of Mr. Parkman on a Letter from Gen. Montcalm to

M. deMole 112

Copy of the Letter in French and in English 117

Correspondence between Mr. Parkman and the Marquis de

Montcalm 126

JULY MEETING. 129

Letters from J. Vernon to Joseph Williamson 131

AUGUST MEETING. 135

Letter from Capt. G. V. Fox 135

Letter from Commodore John Rodgers 136

Announcement of the Death of Hon. William Brigham, and

Resolutions adopted by the Society ........ 138

Letter from the President announcing the Death of William

Winthrop, Esq 139

Alphabetical List of the Sons of Liberty who dined at Dorches-
ter, 1769 140

SEPTEMBER MEETING. 143

OCTOBER MEETING. 144

Announcement by the President of the Death of Rev. Joseph

B. Felt 145

Resolution adopted by the Society 146

Remarks by the President on the Death of Mr. William Win-
throp 146

Communication from Mr. Wiiitmore relative to Rev. John

Hutchinson 143

Remarks of Mr. Lawrence 151

Letter of Father Druillettes to John Winthrop, Jr 152

NOVEMBER MEETING. 155

Announcement of the Death of George Peabody, and Resolution

adopted by the Society 155

CONTENTS. ix

PAGE

DECEMBER MEETING. 159

Memorandum from Mr. Henry Gillman, accompanying a Gift

to the Society 159

"Cardiff Giant" Controversy 161

Letter from Henry Pickering, Esq., to Hon. Charles W. Upham 162

SPECIAL MEETING, DECEMBER 21. 164

Letter from Mr. W. S. Appleton, noticing the Death of John

Bruce, F.S.A 164

Letters read by the President 165

Paper on "The Forms used in issuing Letters-Patent by the

Crown of England," by Mr. Deane 166

Remarks on the same by Prof. Joel Parker 188

JANUARY MEETING, 1870. 197

Letter from Thomas Carlyle 198

Gifts from Mr. H. A. S. D. Dudley 201

Proclamation for a General Embargo, in 1711, by Gov. Joseph

Dudley 206

Life of Gov. Thomas Dudley 207

FEBRUARY MEETING. 222

Letter from Mr. Charles E. Norton 223

Letter from Hon. Horace Binney to Hon. Hugh B. Grigsby . 224

Letter relating to the Battle of Bunker Hill 226

MARCH MEETING. 228

Letter from Henry E. Pierrepont, Esq 229

SPECIAL MEETING, MARCH 18. 231

ANNUAL MEETING, APRIL, 1870. 233

Remarks by the President on the Death of Hon. Gulian C.

Verplanck, LL.D 233

X CONTENTS.

PAGE

On the Death of Nathaniel L. Frothingham, D.D 235

Resolution adopted by the Society 238

Remarks by Dr. Walker 238

Account of Capt. F. Lahrbush 241

List of Officers elected 243

Report of the Standing Committee 244

Report of the Treasurer 246

Report of the Librarian 249

Report of the Cabinet- Keeper 251

Letter from William Alexander Hyrne to William Tilghman . 253

Letter from J. Francis Fisher, Esq 256

Memoir of Alvan Lamson, D.D., by Andrew P. Peabody, D.D. 258
Memoir of Hon. Charles G. Loring, by Theophilus Parsons,

LL.D 263

SPECIAL MEETING, APRIL 28. 29]

Letters read by the President 291

Paper on " Medals and Coins relating to America," by Mr. W. S.

Appleton 293

Letter relating to the Battle of Lexington 306

"Original Bank Circular, 1809" 307

MAY MEETING. 308

Letter relating to the Death of William Pynchon 309

Paper by Hon. George T. Davis on the " St. Regis Bell" . . 311

JUNE MEETING. 322

Remarks by the President on announcing the Death of Win-

throp Sargent, Esq 322

Memorial to George Peabody in Westminster Abbey .... 325

Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Edmund Quincy 326

An early Paper of Daniel Webster on the Acquisition of the

Floridas 329

Lines to the Besieged Inhabitants of Boston 331

JULY MEETING. 333
Remarks by Mr. W. G. Brooks on exhibiting Specimens of

Wall-coverings from the " Royal House " in Medford . . 333

CONTENTS. XI

PAGE

AUGUST MEETING. 335

Communication by the President on the Hutchinson Papers . 335

Letter from Daniel Clark to John Winthrop, Jr 344

SEPTEMBER MEETING. 345

Paper by Lucius R. Paige, D.D 345

Letter from Rev. Robert C. Waterston to Mr. Deane . . . . 347

Tributes to Hon. John P. Kennedy, by the President . . . 354

Prof. James Russell Lowell 365

Hon. George S. Hillard 367

Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D 369

Act for the Preservation of Ancient Town Records 370

Memoir of Nathaniel L. Frothingham, D.D., by Frederic

H. Hedge, D.D 371

OCTOBER MEETING. 388

Anecdote of Governor Brooks 389

Extracts from Col. Paul Revere's Day-book 390

List of Protesters against the Solemn League and Covenant,

and Addressers to Governor Hutchinson . 392

Communication from Judge Metcalf 395

Communication from Mr. Deane respecting Governor Bradford's

Dialogue 396

Copy of the Dialogue 407

Verses by Governor Bradford 465

NOVEMBER MEETING. 483

Letter from Mr. Charles J. Hoadly 483

Account of a Portrait of Sir William Phipps, by Hon. George

T. Davis 484

Letter from Hon. Hugh B. Grigsby 485

DECEMBER MEETING. 492

Letter of Major Abraham Eustis, giving an Account of the

Capture of York, now "Toronto" 492

Letter from Mr. George H. Chapman, containing an Account of

the Fenwick Family 497

List of Donors 498

Index 502

OFFICERS

OF THE

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

Elected April 14, 1870.

HON. ROBERT C. WLNTHROP, LL.D Boston

HON. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, LL.D Boston.

HON. EMORY WASHBURN, LL.D Cambridge.

SUtorbittg Jtejeiarg.
CHARLES DEANE, A.M Cambridge.

Comsgonbmg Uttmiarg.
REV. CHANDLER ROBBLNS, D.D Boston.

ftreasaar.
HON. RICHARD FROTHINGHAM, A.M Charlestown.

librarian.
SAMUEL A. GREEN, M.D Boston.

Cabitttt-Jlfceper.
HENRY G. DENNY, A.M. ...*....*....*'. Boston.

JSianbing Committer

REV. GEORGE W. BLAGDEN, D.D Boston.

HON. JAMES M. ROBBLNS Boston.

HENRY W. TORREY, A.M Cambridge.

THEODORE LYMAN, S.B Brookline.

REV. HENRY M. DEXTER, D.D Boston.

[xiii]

RESIDENT MEMBERS,

AT THE DATE OP THE PUBLICATION OP THIS VOLUME, IN THE ORDER OP
THEIR ELECTION.

Hon. James Savage, LL.D.
Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, LL.D.
Hon. Charles Francis Adams, LL.D.
Rev. George E. Ellis, D.D.
Hon. John C. Gray, LL.D.
Hon. George S. Hillard, LL.D.
Hon. William Minot, A.M.
Hon. Peleg W. Chandler, A.M.
Rev. George W. Blagden, D.D.
Rev. Lucius R. Paige, D.D.
Hon. Solomon Lincoln, A.M.
Rev. Chandler Robbins, D.D.
Francis Bowen, A.M.
John Langdon Sibley, A.M.
Hon. Richard Frothingham, A.M.
Hon. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, M.D.
Henry Wheatland, M.D.
Charles Deane, A.M.
Francis Parkman, LL.B.
Ellis Ames, A.M.
Hon. John H. Clifford, LL.D.
Hon. Emory Washburn, LL.D.
Rev. Samuel K. Lothrop, D.D.
Rev. William Newell, D.D.
Hon. Lorenzo Sabine, A.M.
Col. Thomas Aspinwall, A.M.
Rev. John S. Barry, A.M.
John A. Lowell, LL.D
Hon. John Lothrop Motley, LL.D.
Hon. Charles H. Warren, A.M.

Rev. James Walker, D.D.
Rev. Edmund H. Sears, A.M.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D.
Henry W. Longfellow, LL.D.
Rev. Frederic H.'Hedge, D.D.
Jacob Bigelow, LL.D.
Hon. George T. Davis, LL.B.
Hon. Stephen Salisbury, A.M.
Henry Austin Whitney, A.M.
Rev. William S. Bartlet, A.M.
Josiah G. Holland, M.D.
Rev. Charles Brooks, A.M.
Leverett Saltonstall, A.M.
Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, D.D.
Samuel F. Haven, A.M.
Hon. Richard H. Dana, Jr., A.M.
Hon. George Tyler Bigelow, LL.D.
Hon. Caleb Cushing, LL.D.
Henry W. Torrey, A.M.
Hon. Joel Parker, LL.D.
Williams Latham, A.B.
Hon. Charles Hudson, A.M.
Rev. Robert C. Waterston, A.M.
Hon. Theophilus Parsons, LL.D.
Thomas C. Amory, A.M.
Hon. Benjamin F. Thomas, LL.D.
Samuel A. Green, M.D.
Hon. James M. Robbins.
Charles Eliot Norton, A.M.
Hon. John J. Babson.

[xiv]

RESIDENT MEMBERS.

Robert Bennett Forbes, Esq.
Rev. Edward E. Hale, A.M.
Rev. Andrew P. Peabody, D.D.
Hon. Theron Metcalf, LL.D.
William G. Brooks, Esq.
Hon. Horace Gray, Jr., A.M.
Charles Folsom, A.M.
Amos A. Lawrence, A.M.
Rev. Edwards A. Park, D.D.
Charles Sprague, A.M.
Hon. Francis E. Parker, A.B.
William H. Whitmore, A.M.
George B. Emerson, LL.D.
James Russell Lowell, A.M.
Rev. Nicholas Hoppin, D.D.
Nathaniel Thayer, A.M.
Erastus B. Bigelow, LL.D.
William C. Endicott, A.B.
Hon. Eben. Rockwood Hoar, LL.D.

Hon. Seth Ames, A.M.
Josiah P. Quincy, A.M.
Samuel Eliot, LL.D.
George Bemis, A.M.
Henry G. Denny, A.M.
Rev. Thomas Hill, D.D.
Charles C. Smith, Esq.
Hon. George S. Hale, A.B.
Hon. Charles W. Upham, A.M.
Jeffries Wyman, M.D.
Robert M. Mason, Esq.
William S. Appleton, A.M.
Rev. Henry M. Dexter, D.D.
Theodore Lyman, S.B.
Edmund Quincy, A.M.
Hon. William T. Davis, A.B.
Rev. George Punchard, A.M.
Abner C. Goodell, Esq.

HONORARY AND CORRESPONDING
MEMBERS,

DELECTED UNDER THE ORIGINAL ACT OF INCORPORATION, 1794, IN THE ORDER OP
THEIR ELECTION.

M. Cesar Moreau.

Erastus Smith, Esq.

Joshua Francis Fisher, A.M.

T. A. Moerenhout, Esq.

Rev. Luther Halsey, D.D.

Rev. Leonard Bacon, D.D.

George Catlin, Esq.

John Winthrop, Esq.

Don J. Jose da Costa de Macedo.

Rt. Rev. William B. Stevens, D.D.

Henry Black, LL.D., C.B.

Richard Almack, F.S.A.

John Romeyne Brodhead, A.M.

Major E. B. Jarvis.

E. George Squier, Esq.

Thomas Donaldson, Esq.

Hon. George Bancroft, LL.D.
[xvi]

J. Hammond Trumbull, Esq.

Robert Bigsby, LL.D.

James Ricker, Jr., Esq.

Henry Stevens, F.S.A.

Cyrus Eaton, A.M.

Frederick Griffin, Esq.

John Carter Brown, A.M.

Rev. William S. Southgate.

Hon. Samuel G. Arnold, A.M.

John Gilmary Shea, LL.D.

James Lenox, Esq.

Rt. Rev. theBishop of Oxford,D.D.,

now of Winchester.
Earl Stanhope, D.C.L.
Hon. John R. Bartlett, A.M.
G. P. Faribault, Esq.
William Paver, Esq.

HONORARY AND CORRESPONDING MEMBERS,

ELECTED SINCE THE PASSAGE OF THE ACT OF 1857.

Honorary.
Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot,

LL.D.
Baron Charles Dupin.
M. Francois A. A. Mignet.
Count Adolphe de Circourt.
Hon. Horace Binney, LL.D.
William Cullen Bryant, LL.D.
Count Agenor de Gasparin.
Hon. Millard Fillmore, LL.D.
George Grote, D.C.L.
M. Edouard Rene Lefebre Laboulaye.
Hon. John A. Dix.
Hon. William H. Seward, LL.D.
Leopold von Ranke.
James Anthony Froude, M.A.
The Very Rev. Arthur Penrhyn

Stanley, D.D.
M. Louis Adolphe Thiers.
Thomas Carlyle, D.C.L.

Corresponding.

Rev. William B. Sprague, D.D.

Rev. Samuel Osgood, D.D.

William Durrant Cooper, F.S.A.

Edmund B. CTCallaghan, LL.D.

Benjamin F. French, Esq.

Francis Lieber, LL.D.

William H. Trescot, Esq.

John G. Kohl, LL.D.

Hon. George P. Marsh, LL.D.

Benjamin R. Winthrop, Esq.

J. Carson Brevoort, Esq.

The Rt. Rev. Lord Arthur Hervey.

Horatio Gates Somerby, Esq.

George H. Moore, LL.D.

Hon . Hugh Blair Grigsby, LL.D.
W. Noel Sainsbury, Esq.
S. Austin Allibone, LL.D.
Henry T. Parker, A.M.
Rev. Leonard Woods, D.D.
Benson J. Lossing, A.M.
Lyman C. Draper, Esq.
George Washington Greene, A.M.
Rev. William G. Eliot, D.D.
Henry B. Dawson, Esq.
Prof. Goldwin Smith, LL.D.
John Forster, LL.D.
George T. Curtis, A.B.
Evert A. Duyckinck, Esq.
James Parton, Esq.
William V. Wells, Esq.
John Meredith Read, Jr., Esq.
Joseph Jackson Howard, LL.D.
Brantz Mayer, Esq.

Rev. Theodore Dwight Woolsey,
D.D.

John Winter Jones, F.S.A.

John Gough Xichols, F.S.A.

Richard Henry Major, F.S.A.

Rev. Edmond de Pressense.

Charles J. Stille, LL.D.

William W. Story, A.M.

M. Jules Marcou.

Rev. Barnas Sears, D.D.

Thomas B. Akins, Esq.

M. Pierre Margry.

Charles J. Hoadly, Esq.

John Foster Kirk, Esq.

Henry T. Tuckerman, A.M.

William T. Budington, D.D.

Benjamin Scott, F.R.A.S.
fxvii]

MEMBERS DECEASED.

Resident, Honorary, and Corresponding Members who have died since the
publication of the last volume of Proceedings, June 1, 1869 ; or of whose
death information has been received since that date : —

Resident.

Hon William Brigham, A.B.

Rev. Joseph B. Felt, D.D.

Rev. Nathaniel L. Frothingham,D.D.

Hon. David Sears, A.M.
George Ticknor, LL.D.
Joseph Palmer, M.D.

Honorary and Corresponding.

William Winthrop, Esq.
George Peabody, D.C.L.
John Bruce, F.S.A.
Hon. William Willis, A.M.
[xviii]

Hon. Gulian C. Verplanck, LL.D.
Winthrop Sargent, A.M.
Hon. John P. Kennedy, LL.D.
Buckingham Smith, Esq.

PROCEEDINGS

MASSACHUSETTS HISTOEICAL SOCIETY,

ANNUAL MEETING, April, 1869.

THE Society held its Annual Meeting this day, Thursday,
15th April, 1869, at eleven o'clock, a.m. ; the President,
the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, in the chair.

The Recording Secretary read the record of the last meeting.

The President said that the business of the Monthly Meet-
ing would be proceeded with before that of the Annual Meeting
was taken up.

The Cabinet-keeper reported a gift to the Cabinet, of one
hundred and forty-two engraved portraits from our associate,
Mr. Whitmore.

The Corresponding Secretary read letters of acceptance from
Charles J. Stille, of Philadelphia ; from William W. Story, of
Rome, Italy ; and from Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of
Westminster.

The letter from Dean Stanley here follows : —

Deanery, Westminster, Feb. 27, 1869.

Sir, — I beg to return my sincere thanks for the great honor which
has been done to me by my election as an Honorary Member of the
Massachusetts Historical Society.

Few rewards can be more deeply felt by an Englishman than the
knowledge that any of his labors have been appreciated by his kinsmen
on the further side of the Atlantic, and that he has in any way contrib-

2 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

uted to strengthen those bonds of intellectual and moral sympathy

which make us feel that, amidst whatever differences of government,

civil or ecclesiastical, we are still of the same flesh and blood, heirs of the

same great race and language, — and hoping for a like glorious future.

It is one of the many charms of my present position in Westminster

Abbey that one of the monuments in its walls is inscribed with the name

of a Governor of Massachusetts, at a time when our countries were

still undivided. I shall now regard it with a fresh interest, and shall

hope to welcome any members of your Society to the Abbey, not merely

as American citizens, but as my colleagues in the same institution.

I beg to remain, yours faithfully,

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley,

Dean of Westminster,
The Rev. Chandler Robbins, Cor. Secretary.

The President communicated from Francis Lieber, LL.D., a
pamphlet by him, entitled " Fragments of Political Science on
Nationalism and Inter-Nationalism. "

He also communicated from W. F. Goodwin, Captain in the
United-States army, now stationed at Richmond, Ya., a book,
in facsimile, of the arms of Goodwin, and of Bradbury.

The President read a letter from A. W. Thayer, Esq., United-
States Consul at Trieste, in which he presented to the Society
a copy, kindly furnished by Barone Revoltella for the purpose,
of a book, entitled " II Diciasette Maggio M dccc lxvii nei fasti
della chiesa tergestina per la sapiente generosa pieta di Pas-
quale Barone Revoltella Imperituro : Memorie per Luigi Cesare
Dr. Pavissich, * * * Trieste."

A beautiful volume, entitled " The Melrose Memorial," was
presented to the Society, by the Town of Melrose.

Suitable acknowledgments were ordered for these several
gifts.

The President read the following letter from the Rev. W. H.
Milman, which, he said, though not intended for publication,
was too interesting to be lost to our Proceedings : —

15, Cornwall Gardens, Queen's Gate, W., March 2, 1869.
My dear Sir, — I write at my mother's request, who even yet
does not feel equal to acknowledging for herself kindness so great as

1869.] DEATH OF HON. GEORGE FOLSOM. 3

yours and Mr. Motley's, to thank you heartily for the handsome and
affectionate tribute paid by you publicly to the memory of my dear
father, and for the letter you were good enough to write to her.

I must also ask you to express to the Massachusetts Historical So-
ciety, my mother's gratitude for the Resolution of appreciation of my
father's life and labors, and of sympathy with herself in her bereave-
ment, passed by the Society.

The great sorrow consequent upon her loss has been not perhaps
diminished, but emptied of much of its bitterness, by the gratifying
testimony which has been borne by the foremost men of all classes and
of all parties on our side the Atlantic, to the brightness of my father's
talents, to the genial loving-kindness of his disposition, to the purity
and simplicity of his character ; and now it is a very great additional
consolation to hear voices from across the ocean, which assure us that
in the New World, too, he had won the admiration, the esteem, the
affection of all that is most distinguished there ; of all there whose
kindly regard and approval is most worth having ; whose praise is
praise indeed.

You know my father never wrote to secure applause, never sup-
pressed a conviction or modified an expression to gain it ; yet when he
had done his part, and his work had to be judged, there was no favor-
able verdict for which he looked more eagerly, or which more assured
him that he had done well what he had done, than that which came to
him from the great new home of our race.

As Mr. Motley signed his name to your letter to my mother, may I
ask you to communicate to him this our answer ?

Believe me, my dear sir, yours very truly and gratefully,

William H. Milman.

The Honorable Robert Winthrop.

The President spoke of the death of the Hon. George Folsom,
a Corresponding Member, in the following language : —

The death of the Hon. George Folsom has recently been
announced by an ocean telegram. He has been on the roll
of our Corresponding Members since 1836. He was born on
the 23d of May, 1802 ; was graduated at Harvard University
in 1822 ; studied law in the office of Judge Shepley, at
Saco, Me. ; and, while a student there, wrote a history of some
of the early settlements of that part of our country. He

4 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April

entered on the practice of his profession at Worcester, Mass.,
where he soon became associated with the American Antiqua-
rian Society, and, as Chairman of the Committee of Publication,
edited the second volume of its Transactions.

About the year 1837, he removed to the city of New York,
and became a member of the New- York Historical Society.
He was soon elected its Librarian, and took a very leading
part in the restoration of that Society to its original activity
and usefulness. In 1841, he was the principal, if not exclusive,
editor of a volume of Collections, devoted to the Dutch
Annals of the State, upon which a very high value was placed
by historical students. His next publication was a Transla-
tion from the Spanish, of the Despatches of Hernando Cortes,
written from Mexico in 1520-1526, with a valuable introduc-
tion and elaborate notes. About the same time, he published
anonymously a little volume, entitled " Mexico in 1842."

Mr. Folsom was elected to the Senate of New York in 1844,
and thus became a member, ex-officio, of the Court of Errors of
that State, in whose discussions and decisions his early legal
training was turned to the best account. In 1850, he was ap-
pointed, by General Taylor, Charge d' Affaires at the Hague,
where he remained until 1854, discharging the duties, and
administering the hospitalities of his mission, to the entire
satisfaction of his own government, and of the country to which
he was accredited.

After travelling in Europe for a couple of years, he returned
to New York, and renewed his relations to the various literary
and charitable associations with which he had been previously
connected. He was a Director of the New- York Institution
for the Deaf and Dumb, President of the Citizens' Savings
Bank, and President of the American Ethnological Society.
The state of his health, however, had incapacitated him, of late,
for any active pursuit of literary or historical studies ; and he
had repeatedly sought restoration in tours to Europe. He
died at Rome on the 27th of March last.

1869.] LETTER FROM J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL. 5

Mr. Folsom married a daughter of the late Benjamin Win-
throp, Esq., of New York, by whom he had several children,
and through whom he enjoyed a large fortune. She died some
years before him. His large and valuable library was the con-
solation of his darkened home and failing health.

Dr. Ellis announced that the Sewall Papers, purchased by
the Society, had been received by the Committee, from the
Sewall family, and were now deposited in the Library of the
Society.

Dr. Hoppin spoke of having recently received a letter from
the Eev. John Laviscount Anderton, of Chislehurst, Kent,
England, a descendant of Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Oliver,
inquiring if Copley ever painted miniatures, he having in his
possession a miniature of Mr. Oliver, said to be by Copley.

Remarks were made by Messrs. Whitmore, Amory, and E.
Ames, all expressing the opinion that Copley, at one time,
painted miniatures.

The President read the following . letter from our Corre-
sponding Member, J. Hammond Trumbull, Esq., of Hartford : —

Hartford, Conn., March 29th, 1869.
Hon. Robert C. Winthrop,

President of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Dear Sir, — Several years ago, you informed the Historical Soci-
ety that you had discovered, in a manuscript memorandum by Ebeling,
a possible solution of the question of authorship of the English trans-
lation of Chastellux's " Voyages dans l'Amerique." This memorandum
gave the name of the translator as Grieve, — " living at Morly, near
Paris," in 1787, or afterwards. A few months after your communica-
tion of this discovery, a writer in the " Historical Magazine," for Jan-
uary, 1863, called attention to the fact, that, in Watt's " Bibliotheca
Britannica," the translation is attributed to " J. Kent, Esq.," and sug-
gested that " Grieve " may have been an alias, assumed for purposes
of secrecy.

John Kent, " a young man of good parts, upon town," — as " Jun-
ius," wrote of him to Woodfall, in 1769, — translated Chastellux's essay
" De la Felicite Publique," and published it, under the title of " An
Essay on Public Happiness," &c. ; and he afterwards (in 1776) pub-

6 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

lished a " Picture of the Condition and Manners of the People of
Rome," &c. But I have not been able to find any authority for Watt's
attribution to him of the translation of "Voyages dans l'Amerique,"
nor any evidence that Kent had ever been in this country. I have
now sufficient proof that Watt was misinformed, and that Ebeling
was right in ascribing the translation to a Mr. Grieve, — or, as he
wrote his own name to a letter now before me, Greive, — who was liv-
ing in France between 1783 and 1793.

As you remarked, in mentioning your discovery to the Society iu
1862, that this question of authorship " had frequently engaged your
attention," I shall offer no apology for communicating to you this evi-
dence, — which, though circumstantial, appears to me to be conclusive.

From the translator's notes, we learn some particulars of his early
life and of his social position. From an allusion to Dr. Witherspoon's
"displays of eloquence at presbyteries and synods" (vol. i. p. 163),
and from the mention of his " old friend Rumney," whom he met
" after an absence of twenty years," at Alexandria, Va., it may be in-
ferred that the translator's family lived near the Scottish border. Dr.
Rumney's " father had been forty years master of the Latin school at
Alnwick in Northumberland, and his uncle [the Rev. Joseph Rumney]
clergyman of Berwick " (i. 66). The translator had " spent some years
in the compting-house of one of the most considerable merchants of
London, a native of Switzerland" having purchased that privilege by
" the moderate premium of one thousand guineas " (ii. 355). He had
been "the intimate friend" of General Montgomery, — "deep in the
secrets of his head and heart," — before that hero abandoned the ser-
vice of Great Britain, in 1772 ( i. 92 ; ii. 375). After the commence-
ment of the American war, he had lived some time in the West Indies,
— at Porto Rico (i. 362 ; ii. 195). In 1777, he met Silas Deane, and
"supped with him, on his return from Havre de Grace " (i. 320). In
1780, he appears to have been in this country (i. 99), but must have
returned to Europe not many months afterwards, for he was in Eng-
land in the autumn or early winter of the same year (ii. 186), and in
Holland in August, 1781, and "saw the Dutch fleet sail, and return
after the engagement" off the Dogger Bank (i. 193). He was in
America again, very early in 1782, and appears to have remained at
Philadelphia or in that neighborhood till the beginning of May (ii.
182, 37 : i. 182). He called on General Washington, having " partic-
ular business to transact with him, respecting the estates of an old
friend to whom he was executor"; and afterwards (in company with

1869.] LETTER FROM J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL. 7

Dr. Rumney) he visited Washington's home in Virginia, " passing a
day or two with Mrs. Washington " and her family (i. 67, 115, 194).
In October, he accompanied the French army on their march north-
ward, " nearly the whole way from Alexandria to the North River," —
going on from Philadelphia to the camp at Verplanck's Point, in com-
pany with Mr. Craigie (apothecary-general for the northern depart-
ment). He dined with Washington at headquarters, "spent a day
or two at the camp," and then " continued his journey to Massachu-
setts" (i. 67, 126, 335; ii. 212). In November, he "was residing at
Salem " ; " was present at the [Association ball] at Boston," November
14th; having, by "his accidental absence" from Goodhue's Tavern in
Salem, on the 13th, missed a visit of the Marquis de Chastellux to
that place (ii. 254, 259). The next month, December, 1782, he sailed,^
for Europe, with four officers of Rochambeau's army for fellow-pas-
sengers, and, after a seven weeks' voyage, arrived at Bordeaux in France
(ii. 77 ; i. 106), — where we lose sight of him in the notes.

The letter to which I haVe before referred, is dated from " Bordeaux,
21 January, 1783," and addressed to Silas Deane, then at Paris, by his
" much obliged and obedient servant, George Greive," — who " arrived
a few days ago in the General Galvez, of Salem, and has now the
pleasure of enclosing [to Mr. Deane] a letter which he received from
[his] brother in Hartford, in October last." " As his stay at Hartford
was only transient," he had " not the opportunity of availing himself
of those tenders of civility which [Mr. Deane's] brother kindly made
him, in consequence of Mr. Deane's friendly letter of introduction" &c.
The writer's address was " at Messrs. French & Neveu," Bordeaux,
where he proposed to stay " three weeks or a month."

And now, who was this George Greive? A letter published in
Oswald's "Independent Gazetteer" (Philadelphia), June 27, 1787, —
an extract from which was printed in the " Historical Magazine," vol.
i. p. 90, gives a " history of this same translator and brother traveller
of the Marquis de Chastelleux." " He was an attorney at Northum-
berland, of some little abilities, but of more impudence," who went to
London, was employed by Almon to superintend the printing of the
" London Courant," took an active part in the contested election for
Westminster (in 1780), and "somewhat distinguished himself" by his
zeal and success in procuring votes for Fox and Sir G. Rodney. Not
long afterwards, having been detected in " the most detestable of all
crimes," he " made his escape to Holland, and soon after from thence
to America." Mr. Adams, " who was a f Amsterdam when the fugitive

8 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

embarked for America," is censured (by implication), for not having
" apprised his constituents, or friends," of this man's " infamous char-
acter," of which, " it is said, he was not ignorant."

The letter-writer, whoever he was — possibly Colonel Oswald himself,

was evidently disposed to present the character of the translator

(whom he does not name), in the worst possible -light. The sketch
can have had no other original than George Greive, — who, however,
may not have been quite so bad as he is painted. He was bad enough,
certainly, — or he would not have written his notes to Chastellux.
Brissot was right in advising readers of the translation, that " il faut
se defier excessivement de tout ce qu'il dit pour et contre."

From an obituary notice in the " Gentleman's Magazine," vol. lxiii.
p. 1216 (Supplement for 1793), I learn that George Greive was the
younger son of Mr. Richard Greive, attorney-at-law in Alnwick, — "a
branch of a family settled in trade at Berwick-upon-Tweed," — who,
" zealous in the pursuits of his profession, and having talents, left, for a
place so remote from the capital, a very considerable fortune to his
children." His elder son, " David Richard Grieve [as the name is
printed, 1. c] Esq., of Swarland Hall, near Felton, in Northumberland,
for which county he was high-sheriff in 1788," died at his London
residence in Soho Square, December 16, 1793, — without issue. His
brother, " George Grieve, Esq., now in his forty-fifth year, was a young
gentleman of great promise, to whom his father left £20,000, most of
which he spent in search of popularity. He was bound apprentice to
Peter Thellusson [' a native of Switzerland '], merchant in London.
Being a man of warmth and vivacity, he was an active member of the
Bill of Rights Club, to which he was, for a time, secretary. About
this time he was a candidate for the shrievalty of the city of London,
in which he was unsuccessful. For many years past he has lived in
France, and has employed himself in literary pursuits, such as a trans-
lation of Baron Tott's Memoirs, published here in 1785, ['translated
from the French by an English gentleman at Paris, under the imme-
diate inspection of the Baron,' ] and some other works ; and where, we
are told, he has long lamented his youthful levities, and now, at Bor-
deaux, sighs for the sweets of his native land, and of a virtuous liberty."
I have not taken the trouble to trace his history further. His iden-
tification with the translator of Chastellux's " Voyages " appears to me
to be complete, though it is established by circumstantial evidence
only. I trust that you will excuse the length of this letter, if it dis-
poses finally of a question which has puzzled many readers, and of

1869.] JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 9

which the error of Watt in the "Bibliotheca Britannica" has led
others to a mistaken answer.

I remain, dear sir, very respectfully and truly yours,

J. Hammond Trumbull.

P.S. — In the management of the "London Courant," in 1779 and
1780, Greive was associated with Hugh Boyd, one of the putative
authors of "Junius." In July, 1781, " the late printer of the ' London
Courant,' " as the first publisher of " a libel against the Russian Am-
bassador " [M. de Simolin], was sentenced to pay a fine of £100, to be
imprisoned for a year, and at the expiration of his confinement be set
on the pillory for one hour." The attorney-general " expatiated on the
enormity of the libel " ; and the printers of Jive other London journals,
which had copied it from the " Courant," were punished by fine and
imprisonment. See " Gentleman's Magazine," vol. li. p. 340, and " An-
nual Register," xxiv. 184. Greive was in Holland in August, 1781 ;
and Oswald's letter-writer says that he " made his escape from the pil-
lory at London, for the most detestable of all crimes." Whether or not,
the crime alluded to was the libel against De Simolin, I cannot say.

Mr. Davis offered for publication a manuscript diary of what
was described on the title-page as a journey from Plymouth to
Connecticut, by Samuel Davis, in 1789. The journey was in
fact from Plymouth to Fairfield, in Connecticut, and thence by
water to Xew York. It was performed to Fairfield on horse-
back, with a companion, Mr. Barnabas Hedge, Jr., accompany-
ing in a chaise. The writer was an accurate and tasteful
observer, and his accounts, both of things and people, have a
singular freshness and interest. The diary has also some
original drawings of objects which attracted his special atten-
tion.

JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. — AUTUMN OF 1789*

August 27. — Leave Plymouth at noon, in company with Mr. B.
Hedge, Jr., on a tour to Fairfield, in the State of Connecticut. As I
travelled on horseback, it gave me an opportunity to make many

* Samuel Davis, writer of this journal, was born in Plymouth, March 5, 1765, and
died unmarried, July 10, 1829. He was a member of this Society from 1S12 until his
death. His epitaph, written by his brother, the Hon. John Davis, for many years a Presi-

10 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

remarks, which are here transcribed from my original memoranda,
made en passant. Lodged at Cushing's, Hingham Plain, this night.
On our way hither, we passed a party going to Plymouth : Mr. Rus-
sell, Mr. Brimmer, Mr. Pepping, ladies, and others.

August 28. — Breakfasted at Vose's, Milton Hill, and passed this
day at Boston. Lodged at the Golden Ball (Mrs." Loring's).

August 29. — Leave Boston, and are detained this day at Cam-
bridge by rain. Visit the public rooms of the University ; Mr. Fox-
croft's ; take tea with him ; lodge at Bradish's.

Sunday, August 30. — Visit Mr. Brattle's gardens, and proceed on
our journey through Watertown and Waltham to Weston. Breakfast
at Flagg's, the stage inn, and a very good one, thirteen miles from
Cambridge. Dine at Williams's (Marlborough), fourteen and one-half
miles from Weston. Arrived at Worcester, having passed East and
West Sudbury, Northborough, and Shrewsbury ; the last stage eighteen
miles. In the latter place we were stopped by a warden (General
Ward), for travelling on the Sabbath. " Mr. H. made such apologies as
gave us a passport. Near Worcester the road passes a large and
pleasant (Long) pond ; and in Sudbury are extensive marshes, and a
causeway, which in some seasons is overflowed, by what I suppose to
be a branch of Concord River, which in its turn is a tributary to the
Merrimac.

WORCESTER.

From a hill, as we approach, Worcester appears pleasantly situated
in a vale. Put up at Patch's, the stage inn, and find Mr. James a
boarder here, — my former schoolmaster ; pass the evening with him
at Mr. William Sever's. At Northborough, the county of Worcester
commences. I saw nothing in that place worthy of further remark.
At Shrewsbury, near the meeting-house, the ground is high, the pros-
pect extensive and interesting. On the right lies Princeton and
Wachuset hills, twelve miles distant, from whence, we are told, the
spires of Boston and the Atlantic may be seen, distant fifty miles.

dent of this Society, describes him and his character with more accuracy than perhaps is
usually found in epitaphs. It is as follows: —

" From life on earth our pensive friend retires,

His dust commingling with his pilgrim sires.

In thoughtful walk their every path he traced,

Their toils, their tombs, their faithful page embraced:

Peaceful and pure and innocent as they,

Like them to rise to everlasting day." — g.t.d.

1869.] JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 11

Worcester is a neat and flourishing town. The houses are generally
painted. There is a mode of finishing prevails here, somewhat peculiar.
The jut passes round the corners of their houses two or three feet ;
and the window-caps are ornamented with modillions. Mr. Sever
observed that a spirit of building prevailed, and that the greater part
of the principal street had been built since his residence here, a period
of seven or eight years. Their printing-office is celebrated; their
court-house is a neat edifice ; and their farms are well cultivated.

August 31. — Breakfast at Spencer (Jenk's), twelve miles from
"Worcester. Have had the agreeable companions of one-mile stones
this stage, which are continued to Springfield. Our route this morn-
ing has been through Leicester and a continued range of long and
rugged hills, of extensive prospect indeed. Leicester is situate on very
high ground. The meeting-house is a decent edifice, very illy painted.
Near it, is the academy, founded by the late Mr. Lopez, a worthy
merchant, of the Jewish tribe. It is a long building, of two stories,
with a cupola and bell, and two entrances, fronted by porticos : appears
to be decaying. Mr. James observed, at Worcester, that he supposed the
preceptor and pupils would be removed to a handsome new school-house
in that town. Mr. H.'s chaise broke this stage, and while assisting
him my horse walked back a mile or more. Spencer meeting-house is
painted ; without a spire ; small windows, all capped with pediments.

BRIMFIELD (iN THE COUNTY OF HAMPSHIRE).

Powars's, eighteen miles from Spencer. This inn is situate at the
foot of the Western Mountains. On this stage we have passed through
Brookfield and Western. The former is a large and pleasant town, of
several parishes, once the seat of Indian wars. The road is hilly and
rocky, until we reach the upper meeting-house, where it suddenly
alters to a level, without any stones. In Western, near two bridges,
the road directly forward leads to Northampton, thirty miles distant,
while the stage road to this place turns short to the left, a few rods
from the bridge. After passing a burial-ground, it ascends the West-
ern Mountains, a ridge that intersects the State, and terminates in
Connecticut. This pass is about five and one-half miles over ; and we
were an hour and a half in crossing it. In some places it is a solid
mass of rock. One can scarcely believe this has been the main road
to Springfield from time immemorial. The upper country, however,
cannot be attained in any better direction. Powars's, in Brimfield, is
not a stuge inn. It was late, and we had no choice. Our repast was

12 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

various : cold meat, corn, baked apples, wild honey, eggs, cheese, &c.
The room in which we dined recalled Dr. Goldsmith's description.
There was " the bed by night, the chest of drawers by day " ; and
among its decorations were an " Elegy on a late Hurricane," and
" Handsome Harry, or the Deceitful Young Man." The good dame of
the house talked much and loud. The quaint manner in which she called
" E-li ! E-li ! E-li ! " her son, amused us not a little. Some new cheeses
appeared to be inlaid with sprigs and flowers. I asked the landlady how it
was done. She said, " The little witch of a girl brought the leaves from the
garden, and when the cheese was soft pressed them in." The effect was
pleasing, and to me new : the good woman, it seems, thought otherwise.

wilbraham:.

Bliss's, ten miles from Powars's. Monday evening. This house has
a pleasant aspect. It is situated on the side of a mountain, out of the
main road, on a cross one, that leads to Somers in Connecticut. We
are directed to it as a place of good accommodation, though not the
stage inn. Soon after leaving Brimfield, we passed a small bridge,
over the Chickapee. This river is here of some width. We had
passed it twice in Brookfield, where it is an inconsiderable stream.
Here it divides the towns of Brookfield and Palmer, both in Hampshire
County. The road now runs parallel with the river along the valley,
presenting the most romantic scenery. Cottages and cultivation inter-
mingled with rude mountain scenery. Whoever has read Goldsmith's
" Traveller," will here be reminded of his description of Switzerland :
and the attachment of the peasantry to their native soil may be as
proverbial ; for —

" Even those hills that round their mansions rise,
Enhance the bliss their scant3 r fund supplies ;
And the loud torrent, and the whirlwind's roar,
But bind them to their native mountains more."

The road continues along the valley, surrounded on either hand by
mountains, that now take the name of Wilbraham ; and we pass the
Chickapee again on a bridge in Palmer. This river, which rises, I
suppose, in Worcester County, runs a south-westerly course along
these valleys, and loses its name in the Connecticut, above Springfield.
We passed the evening very socially at Wilbraham. Mr. Bliss gave
us much information relating to this part of the country. The room in
which we were entertained was adorned with prints engraved by
Doolittle, of New Haven. " The Battle of Lexington," " Concord
Bridge," and other leading events of the American war, were the

1869.] JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 13

subject of these pictures. Thomson's " Seasons " was on the table :
it belonged to the young woman who waited on us at tea. She wore a
crape cushion : the first I have noticed in all the way from Boston.
The chimney-piece and tables were fancifully decorated with flowers
and shrubbery : and I observed many traits of improved taste, very
pleasant to meet amidst the wild scenes of Wilbraham Mountains.

SPRINGFIELD.

September 1. — Parsons's, ten miles from Wilbraham. Very cool
morning; a frost last night: the buckwheat supposed to be injured by
it. Breakfast at this place. The road hither is not unlike that from
Plymouth to Plimpton, a continued pine plain, without fence. Pass
the Magazine, a long brick building, remarkable for the defence made
before it in 1787, by General Shepard. Further on, are two large
public stores for arms, and a number of barracks, &c. The meanest
houses we have passed this stage are neatly underpinned with Connec-
ticut stone. The Magazine appeared thus as I passed it.
[In the original is a neatly executed drawing.]

Springfield is a pleasant town of some extent, on the east bank of
the river Connecticut. It has a handsome meeting-house, painted, and
furnished with a clock and electrical rod ; a small court-house ; several
well-furnished shops : the hair-dresser's is one of them. I called on
the Rev. Mr. Howard, who was very civil, and requested me to visit
him on my return. Our stay was short here ; and the morning fog
from the river prevented a general view of the place. It is level, and
a continued street along the river of great length. The river is eighty
rods wide here, and ten feet deep in the midst. There are marks of
great freshets on the trees, when it rises twenty feet.

WINDSOR (CONNECTICUT).

Picket's Inn, eighteen miles from Springfield. The ferry which we
crossed at Springfield is very commodious. Several ladies came over
with us, and their carriage entered and left the boat without untackling.
The road now led along through West Springfield, by the banks of
the river. Crossed a bridge in this town over the Agawam, and ascend
a hill, from which there is an extensive view of the mountains in East
Hampton and Hadley, fifteen and thirty miles distant ; and further, a
mountain in Deerfield, as I am told, fifty miles distant from this hill.
About six miles from the ferry we enter the State of Connecticut in
Suffield, and soon perceive a difference In many respects. The roads

14 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

are six rods in width, bordered by a slab fence. The houses have,
generally, porticos ; generally painted. Suffield has a church and a
meeting-house, decorated with the handsomest steeple between this
place and Boston. Begin to see quarries of red stone : the waters of
the brooks have the tinge of red. Indexes are at convenient distances
on this stage. Between Suffield and Windsor there is a long tract of
pine woods, through which the road leads ; a growth of wood not very
common in this region, I believe. Dine at Windsor. While at dinner
a chariot passes from the westward. There is not so much travelling
as I expected here. Between Worcester and Springfield, a distance
of fifty-two miles, met only one wagon.

WETHERSFIELD.

Tuesday evening. — Wright's, fourteen miles from Windsor, and
four from Hartford, which we passed through without alighting. Wind-
sor is the oldest town in the State. It was here that Captain William
Holmes landed from Plymouth, 1633; and there is a place yet called
Plymouth Point. Hartford is built chiefly on one street, a mile or
more in length. Many of the houses are brick. The tide flows here,
near forty miles from the sea. It has a state-house, and two meeting-
houses, and many busy mill-seats. The streets, which are of red
earth, are raised in the turnpike manner. When it rains, a red mud
covers the shoes and boots of the passengers. We have not yet seen
any stone-wall in this State. Virginia fence, so termed, is very common.
The road is rather good than otherwise, all the distance from Spring-
field to this place, inclining to sand here. Their orchards make a fine
appearance. Wheat is much cultivated ; and, though they raise excel-
lent corn, their household bread is universally of wheat. The style of
building varies somewhat from that of the Bay State, as they term
Massachusetts. Beside the front door, their houses have a door on
the end near the front corner, which looks awkward. Porticos are
universal. The windows have steel springs. Large halls are generally
attached to the principal inns. At Wethersfield, onions are much cul-
tivated, of which we were apprised at some distance. It has a noble
brick meeting-house, — which, with its elegant spire, is built on the
model of the North Church in Boston, — a fine clock, and a deep-toned
bell, and many handsome houses on a spacious and busy street. .We
saw that of the late Mr. Beadle, which is shut, with its shop, none
being willing to occupy it. # We met the stage from Fairfield near
Hartford, and many carriages of ladies and gentlemen returning to
town. The gypsy hat and the jaunty air bespeak the neighborhood

* Seep. 163. — Eds.

1869.] JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 15

of city fashions and manners. At Wethersfield the floors are sanded,
which I have not noticed since leaving Cambridge. Visit a goldsmith's
shop here, who is also a druggist and clockmaker. A repeating clock
has a curious device on the face, which represents Adam and Eve in a
circle. A serpent forms a part of the circumference, and, by internal
movements, moves around, incessantly tempting. In coming to this
place, ascend a high hill in Windsor, which opened a view of a chain
of mountains called Windsor Goshen, running east and west, on the
east side of the river, being, I suppose, in East Windsor and Goshen.
And, before entering the line of Hartford, passed the Hanging Bridge ;
so called, from its construction.

WALLINGFORD.

Wednesday noon, September 2. — Keyes's inn, nineteen miles from
Wethersfield. Retarded by showers this morning. Have passed
through Berlin, and the pleasant and fertile village of Worthington
here called a Society. The road led along under mountains. Vil-
lagers were making cider: we took some at the press, from their
beechen bowl. The road has been very rough, but the views of culti-
vation pleasant. At this inn we are shown glass mugs and bottles,
which are made at East Hartford : price of the former Is. 3d. ; the
latter 6d. The color is quite green.

NEW HAVEN.

Smith's coffee-house, seventeen miles from Wallingford. After
leaving Keyes's, we travelled on a level, sandy plain, — a barren heath
of some length, — on which is situated a Separatists' meeting-house, in
poor plight. See much Virginia fence this stage. Pass through North
Haven, the lightest soil we have yet seen in this State. See many
locust-trees, which do not appear injured by the worm. Farmers sow-
ing wheat all along this distance. Arrived at New Haven in the
evening, which is situate on the Sound, on a plain, surrounded by
rude mountains. This inn is opposite the Green, on which are a state-
house, of brick, three meeting-houses, the college, and chapel, all very
near. Their several spires give it a city aspect. It has also much of
a rural appearance, by reason of many trees. The streets are rather
sandy. The harbor of New Haven is shoal ; the principal wharf is
nearly as long as Boston Pier, yet much narrower. There is also an
island wharf for large vessels. The seat of Mr. Edwards appears to
much advantage, as we enter the town from the eastward.

16 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

Thursday, September 3. — Visit the City Assembly Room, where are
exhibited natural curiosities from Africa and Brazil ; are shown the
ourang-outang, or man of the woods, three feet five inches in height ;
the buffalo, of the size of a bull ; the baboon ; the sloth ; and various
monkeys ; the crocodile ; and many serpents of tropical climes ; the tiger
cat, of Brazil, alive in a cage ; a great variety of beautiful birds, among
them the gold crown, of Brazil, of unrivalled plumage. We find some
difficulty in making change in this place. Coppers pass at six the penny.
Even those graced with the legend " Auctori Conn." are included.
Feel chagrined that old Massachusetts, with his bow and arrow, should
be undervalued. New York regulates their trade. The crown passes
there, and here now, at 6s. 9d. All along as we travel, the usual ques-
tion at the taverns is, " From Boston : going to York, I suppose ? "
The appellation New York is not used here.

Thursday noon, September 3. — Leave this place in the forenoon ;
and, at two miles' distance, from an eminence, have a pleasing view of
it, seated apparently under the mountains. Long Island also appears
in view. Fall in company with Mr. Beers, postmaster of New Haven,
and ride with him to Milford. Passed through a part of West Haven.

MILFORD.

This place is seated on the Sound, and is divided from Stratford by
the Housatonic, a river which rises in Berkshire County (Massachu-
setts). Here is a meeting-house of three stories, a smaller one, and a
church, all on one continued street. We cross the Housatonic, a mile
from its mouth, to Stratford. The river is here eighty- two rods wide,
and the channel is four fathoms deep. It is navigable to Derby, ten
miles above, for vessels of burden. There is considerable tide here ;
and this ferry is at times a dangerous passage, from its contiguity to
the sea.

STRATFORD

Is two miles from the ferry ; a very handsome town, also on the Sound.
Benjamin's inn, at which we dined, is fifteen miles from New Haven,
and eight from Fairfield. In the afternoon, proceed to Newfield (since
Bridgeport). Stop at Mr. Young's, a merchant, in that very pleasant
and flourishing village, and are kindly entertained. Arrive at Fairfield
in the evening, the term of our journey ; distant from Boston, by the
route we travelled, one hundred and ninety -four miles, and from Plym-
outh, via Boston, two hundred and thirty-six. Lodge at the Sun
Tavern, — the stage inn, kept by Mr. Penfield. Met Mr. Gershom
Burr between Newfield and Fairfield.

1869.] JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 17

FAIRFIELD.

Friday, September 4. — Introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Burr, Rev. Mr.
Eliot, Hon. Mr. Sturges, and others ; and here meet Mr. Capers, his
younger brother Gabriel, and Mr. Townsend, of Beaufort, S.C. ;
Mrs. Burr and her daughters, our former acquaintance. This after-
noon there is an annual party to the " Pines," on the sea-shore, oppo-
site Long Island. The term Pines is used by way of distinction,
these being almost the only trees of that growth in this place. It was
a " Feast of Shells." The clams are brought from Long Island, and
roasted in the sand. Age and youth of either sex were of the party,
which was very numerous, festive, novel, and agreeable, and closed
with a ball in the evening. The Boston stage arrives this evening,
and we see the " Centinel " of Wednesday.

Saturday, September 5. — Ride to Mill River, the western extreme
of Fairfield, two miles. At this inlet there are bolting mills, several
wharves, on which I notice large piles of Egg Harbor shingle. Many
of the houses in Fairfield are covered with these. The courses, being
laid twelve inches distant, have an unpleasing appearance, resembling
boards. Oak floors and staircases are also common. Cedar, I' believe,
is not indigenous here, as the rails around the enclosures are of chestnut
The soil is excellent. There are few hills — none of magnitude,
nearer than Greenfield — from which a general view can be seen. On
our return take tea with Mr. Sturges, who is a member of Congress
and pass the evening at Mr. Burr's.

Sunday, September 6. — Attend meeting in the morning at Rev. Mr.
Eliot's, who preached from Heb. iv. 16: "Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace." In the intermission visited the
burial-ground, where are some monuments of Connecticut marble.
Dine at Penfield's ; and in the afternoon attend the church service in
the court-house. The Rev. Mr. Sayre, late of Newport, read the
service with solemnity and grace, and preached from 1 Cor. i. 18 : " For
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness." His
society is small and scattered. There are several in this section of the
State. Mr. Eliot's meeting-house is yet unfinished; and the court-
house scarcely merits the name, being a temporary building. Fair-
field, it is well known, was once a beautiful place. The public build-
ings, as well as many elegant private dwellings, were burnt during the
Revolution; and men of ample estate yet reside in very humble
abodes. Take tea at Mr. Burr's, whose residence is one of these. His
garden shows the cellar of his former mansion, over which some

18 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

venerable elms spread their foliage. Introduced to 'Squire Rowland
in the evening, who has visited Plymouth in former days. A satirical
poem has just been published at New York, by a Mr. Church (a can-
didate for office) — called the " Dangerous Vice " ; in allusion, it is
supposed, to eminent public characters. It discovers malignancy, but
has many vigorous lines. Mr. Rowland has read it, and quotes with
emphasis these: —

" Gods! how they'd stare! should fickle Fortune drop
These mushroom lordlings, where she picked them up! "

Mr. C, the author, is understood in this passage to allude to General
Knox, who perhaps did not patronize him. The General cannot be
injured by such darts as these; they fall harmless. The title, it is
thought, alludes to the Vice-President. Visit the singing-school this
evening.

Monday, September 7. — Make an excursion, with Mrs. Burr, to
Greenfield Hill, the residence of the Rev. Dr. Dwight, four miles
distant. Dr. D.'s residence commands a beautiful and extensive
view of Long Island. His mansion is neat, and his gardens well culti-
vated. He is very social. His presence is commanding. A habit
of winking denotes a weakness of the eyes. His rooms are ornamented
with paintings from the pencil of Mr. Dunlap, his brother-in-law.
Some of the subjects are from his " Conquest of Canaan." One repre-
sents " Irad and Selima," from the Third Book, line 135, &c. : —

" O'er northern plains serene the lovers stray,
And various converse charms their easy way."

The figure of Irad is well delineated. Selima not so well. There are
portraits also of Dr. Dwight and Mrs. Dwight, who treated us very
civilly. Dine at Mr. Bradley's, at Greenfield, with our friends. This
gentleman is a farmer of opulence, and gives us the cordial welcome
of abundance. Also visit his son, Mr. S. Bradley. Here are family
portraits, lately done by Earle, who has painted many in this part of
the country. Greenfield is pleasantly situated; has a meeting-house
and an academy, of which Dr. Dwight is the preceptor ; and the place
is the subject of one of his poems. I suppose it to be a parish of Fair-
field. Pass the afternoon at the Rev. Mr. Eliot's, who lives two miles
from town. Hence we see the sand cliffs of Long Island, eighteen
miles distant. Columns of smoke arise along its view this day, and
awakens the idea of the Indian fires of former times, when Montog
and Manhattan and Mohegan visited one another. Here we met Rev.
Mr. Willis, of Kingston, who had come hither to attend the Com-
mencement at New Haven, this week, on the 9th.

1869.] JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 19

Tuesday, September 8. — Stages depart at four o'clock this morning
for the eastward ; and at nine a coach and phaeton arrive, being the
family of the Hon. Mr. Dalton, a senator of the United States from
Massachusetts, who breakfast at this place. The newspapers of this
week announce the arrival of the French fleet at Boston, the 3d inst.
At the distance of near two hundred miles, we receive the " Centinel "
the third day of publication. Mr. Burr is the postmaster, and is the
centre of intelligence. Many of the clergy pass by this day, going to
Commencement. Dine with Mrs. Burr this day, with her children ;
and Mr. C. learns me the game of backgammon in the afternoon.

Wednesday, September 9. — Our friends dine with us at Penfield's,
being Commencement. In the afternoon, Mr. Wm. H. Capers to Miss
A. Burr, and Mr. B. H. to Miss E. D. Burr, were married at Mr.
Burr's, by the Rev. Andrew Eliot. The guests were numerous. I
waited on Miss A. Sturges. Mr. Burr and Mrs. Forgue, relict of a
Dr. Forgue, step a minuet, &c, &c.

Thursday, September 10. — Visits are made. Become acquainted
with Mr. Judson and Dr. Hull, Captain Smedley, &c, &c. Dine at
Mr. Burr's ; and all the party go to Newfield in the afternoon, four
miles hence. Go in the stage. It was quite a cavalcade and proces-
sion. Take tea at Mr. Young's ; and, in the evening, Mr. G. Burr
was married to Miss Susan Young of that place, by Mr. Eliot. A
Mrs. Clark, an English lady, sung, accompanied by her husband, on
the violin. Danced with Miss Hubbell. Mr. Young has an elegant
house at Newfield, which was begun and completed in sixty-two days.
It is finished in a style of much taste, stands near the shore, and
commands a very picturesque view across the harbor. There is a
bridge of some length between this place and town. It is a city in
miniature. Streets, docks, and trades denote its future character of
commercial importance.

Friday, September 11. — Much visiting and festivity, and not much
journalizing. Mr. Burr, an intelligent man, lodges at Penfield's. He
is engaged in the linen manufacture at New Haven, of which he gives

me some account. Western and eastern stages arrive. Only one pas-
senger in each : somewhat singular, on this great road.

Saturday, September 12. — Visit Newfield with a numerous party,
and take a sketch of the place from Mr. Young's house. Have fine
melons, &c, &c, here. On our return find Judge Hobart and lady
have arrived from New York, with whom we dine at Mr. Burr's.
Judge H. is singularly tall in person, being six feet four inches;
grave in air, plain in dress. Mrs. H. is small and delicate, — her

20 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

voice is extremely weak, — and is probably an habitual invalid ; quite
the lady in her manners. The Judge gave us an account of the por-
poise fishery at Sagg Harbor, Long Island, which I will attempt to
state. They are caught in seines of half a mile in width, supported by
boats, connected with ropes. These seines are made of ten-thread
ratline, and cost, as he stated, £4,000 currency. They are hauled to
the shore by a windlass, when forty or more porpoises are drawn in
averaging from five to six and seven gallons of oil each. Their skins
are said to be worth 6s. each.

Sunday, September 13. — Two English gentlemen are at Penfield's
this morning, from Dominica, via Boston and Newport. Attend public
worship at Mr. Eliot's meeting, who preaches from John iii. 36 : " He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth
not the Son shall not see life." In the afternoon, from Rom. v. 10 :
" For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of his Son ; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by
his life." At the close of the service an anthem was sung from Psalm
xxvi. ; intended, without doubt, as a mark of respect to the events of
the past week. Take tea at Mr. Burr's.

Monday, September 14. — In the morning go to Mill River with
Mr. and Mrs. Capers, where we are to embark for New York, on a
visit. Take passage with Captain Thorp, in the " Lady of Fairfield."
Other passengers are Miss Sherwood and Mr. Pomeroy, of Greenfield,
Mr. Sherwood, and Mr. Piatt, a youth of the city. Embark at nine
o'clock, wind N.N.E., and soon leave several vessels far behind. Speak
a schooner from Casco Bay, with fish, going our course. Becalmed at
noon.

LONG ISLAND SOUND.

Pass by Norwalk, Stamford, Horseneck, or Greenwich, and Rye,
which is the first town in New York State, on the eastern side.
The views sailing up the Sound are pleasing. The shore approaching,
as we proceed, brings a succession of picturesque objects in view, of
which I take pencil sketches. Becalmed at sunset, off Sands's Point,
thirty-eight miles from Fairfield ; and at nine o'clock come to, under
Hart's Island.

September 15. — Heave up at three in the morning, with the tide in
our favor, but calm. Double many points, and at nine o'clock pass
Hell Gate, with New York Island on our right, and Blackfield's
Island on the left. This is called the West Passage. It is said the
bed of the river here is rock, which renders anchoring hazardous. As
it was calm, we were obliged to row. It rained at this time, and the

1869.] JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 21

whirlpools were to be seen which mark the places of danger. This
passage is about half a mile, and ten from the city, which appears in
view after doubling Kyler's Hook ; also the village of Brooklyn, on
Long Island opposite. The banks of York Island have here a wild
and grotesque appearance. Seats and summer-houses appear among
the rocks, almost hanging over us. We pass timber and mast yards at
the east end of the city, which here resembles the north part of Boston
around Winnisimmet and Copp's Hill. The prospect of the city pre-
sents but few spires. We landed at Burling's Slip, and quartered at
Mrs. Vandervoort's, No. 28, Maiden Lane, where we dined. The
company are Mr. Robert Greenleaf, a youth of Boston, Mr. and Mrs.
Dickason of Bermuda, and Miss D. Vandervoort.

NEW YORK.

September 15. — A coat-of-arms hung in the parlor of Mrs. Vander-
voort, bearing the. name of Ledyard, which she told me was her former
name ; and that the traveller was her nephew. A beautiful, unfinished
picture of one of her children hung in my chamber, which she said was
painted by a Mr. Wright, a son of the celebrated Mrs. Wright. Mrs.
Dickason was a lively woman ; repeated poetry, and gave me some
anecdotes of Miss Helen Maria Williams, the poetess. She said she
was addressed by a Mr. Riddle, of Bermuda, whose death in early years
had given occasion to some of her admired compositions. Visit the
Fly Market and other parts of the city in the afternoon with Mr.
Capers, and call at Mr. Rogers's, where we meet Dr. Dwight and a
Mr. Lyde, who I believe was an absentee and a native of Boston, and
who makes many inquiries respecting Colonel Watson and Mr. I.
Lothrop, of Plymouth, with whom he was formerly acquainted. Saw
a beautiful engraving of the " Nativity," at Mr. Rogers's. The streets
are bordered by convenient brick walks. Meet Dr. Bard, a very polite
man, physician to the President. Begs us to call at his house : is
extremely civil. Visit the Federal Hall, where I meet Mr. Partridge,
member of Congress from Massachusetts, who told me I was the first
person he had ever seen from his district. Engage to breakfast with
him to-morrow. Take tea at Judge Hobart's. All the tea-water used
in this city is brought from the tea-water pump, some distance, in cars,
and is sold at two coppers the pail. The wheels of these are broad and
unshod, as well as the trucks, on account of the pavement. The city
is lighted ; and as I pass along, see whole families sitting in the Dutch
stoops at the doors, a mode of building now obsolete. Our party this

22 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

evening at Mrs. Vandervoort's are Miss Ledyard, Mr. Tucker, and Mr.
Walker, Mr. Dickason and lady.

September 16. — Breakfast with Mr. Partridge, at Mrs. Loring's,
Broadway. Mr. Ames and Mr. J. Williams, of Boston, are here.
Mr. Lear, the secretary, called on Mr. P., respecting appointment at
Rehoboth, Mass. Opposite the parlor is a view of the North River,
and the village of Bergen, on the Jersey shore. In front is the
Bowery. The Bowery, or Bowling Green, is an oval plat, enclosed
with a railing of iron. The pedestal on which formerly stood the
statue of the king, is in the centre, on which now stands the ship car-
ried in procession when the Constitution was adopted. Broadway is
very wide ; and its four-story buildings superb. At the end, on the
harbor, is the fort, which is to be the site of the future government
house. At the north end is St. Paul's Chapel, in front of which is
Montgomery's monument. Near it are the college, poor-house, Bride-
well, and the jail. The new Trinity Church is now building on
this street, which will have a spire two hundred feet from the pave-
ment : is twenty-five higher than any other in the city. In the grave-
yard are many wooden monuments, — erected during the war, when
stone could not be procured, — painted white, with black letters.

Septemler 17. — Visit Federal Hall, situate at the head of Broad
Street, in the front of which the President lately took the inaugural
oath, and where the Congress sits. The vestibule is lighted from
above, the floor of which is flagstone. Visit the gallery. Prayers
performing. The members sit in semicircles, covered; uncovered
when speaking. Mr. Lear is announced, and delivers a message.
The debates appear to be desultory this morning, and unimportant.
Meet Mr. John Fenno in the gallery, who designates all the members
as they sit. He is taking their debates for publication, and is glad to
see me, though unknown, because I came from Massachusetts. Meet
with Mr. Lyde again this morning. Says he has been absent from
Boston fifteen years ; is strongly attached to it, yet prefers New York
for business. Says it is as two to one in this respect : that he leases
a house for £185 currency ; and every thing is in that proportion. Is
very civil. Purchase some fruit in the market. Coppers pass at
twenty-four the shilling Only the Jersey coinage are current in the
market, where are melons, peaches, and other fruits, superior, I think,
to those of Boston. Visit the theatre this evening, in John Street,
with the ladies of Maiden Lane. The exterior of the theatre is ordi-
nary, but handsome within. Mr. Henry's " Old American Company "
are the performers. "The Father, or American Shandyism," written

1869.] JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 23

by Mr. Dunlap, the painter, was performed. The "Taming of the
Shrew" was the afterpiece. Mr. Wignell, one of the actors, was
much applauded. Mr. Henry spoke the epilogue. This being my
debut at dramatic representations, was not a little gratified.

September 18. — Repair to the gallery of Congress this morning.
Prayers offered by Dr. Prevost. Only thirteen members present.
The House were engaged by private petitions. The question of Per-
manent Residence was taken up : and it was proposed to fix the future
seat of government on the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania. On the
amendment, " or in Maryland," an animated debate ensued. Messrs.
Stone, Lee, Jackson, Page, Madison, Gale, for the amendment. Hartley,
Clymer, Ames, Sherman, against it. On a division there was a tie,
twenty-seven and twenty-seven. The Speaker, Muhlenburg (of Penn-
sylvania), was against the amendment. The salary of the judges was
taken up this day. Mr. Goodhue moved that $4,500 for the chief
justice be struck out, and $3,000 inserted : supported by Judge Liver-
more (New Hampshire), Mr. Ames, Mr. White, Gerry, and S ;

opposed by Smith (South Carolina) ; Lawrence (New York) ; Benson,
(New York) ; Vining (Delaware.) Finally passed at $3,500 ; associates,
$3,000. District judges, under consideration. Judge Livermore moved
that $800 be struck out, and $500 be inserted for Maine. Mr. Madison
proposed to equalize them ; overruled. A reduction made in every in-
stance. In the course of these debates, Mr. Ames observed, on the sub-
ject of the chief-justice salary, that he thought $1,500 would command
the first legal abilities in New England. He therefore thought $3,000
an ample compensation ; that the integrity of the judge was not secured
by the quantum of compensation, but by a habit of right action ; that it
was often the case, that men politically bad made very good judges, &c,
&c Some other business of less moment occurred this day. Mr. Good-
hue called for the report of the committee on the value of the rouble of
Russia. A petition of Mr. Rumsey, on improvements in hydrostatics,
was read ; and of the Rev. Mr. Stoy,* of Pennsylvania, on a nostrum
for the cure of the hydrophobia. A general smile. Mr. Boudinot, of
New Jersey, was in the chair. Visit the bookstore of Hugh Gaine, and
buy " Nisi Prius " for my brother. Call on Mr. Dunlap, where we
meet Dr. Dwight again. See some fine drawings in India ink, and
paintings from Orlando Furioso ; and a sketch of the "Inauguration
of the President," on a scale of twelve by eight feet ; the " Choice of
Hercules " ; the " Youth rescued from a Shark," &c, &c. Mr. Dunlap

* Probably Hoy. See Journal of the House under this date. — Eds.

24 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

has studied with the celebrated Mr. West, and is a man of genius in
the arts of poetry and painting. Meet with Mr. Woolsey here. Take
tea at Mrs. Loring's, with Mr. Partridge, Ames, and Colonel Leonard,
who arrived this morning, to increase the vote on the question of
permanent residence, I suppose. Judge Hobart arrived this day from
Fairfield. We called on him, who treated us with Blue Point oysters
from the shell, and excellent Madeira. As we return home, the still-
ness of this great and busy city is very impressive. In the course of
this day I visited Mr. Decker's balloon, in which he advertises to
ascend on Wednesday next. The car is completed. It has cost £100 ;
and it makes a beautiful appearance.

Saturday, September 19. — Embark on board the "Lady of Fair-
field " on our return. As we passed through the Fly Market before
five o'clock, the marketmen and Dutch women were arranged at their
stands. Leave Burling's Slip with the wind at N.N.W. ; and as we are
wafted along the East River, meet the market boats from Long Island,
plying across in rapid succession, loaded with bounties. The wind
hauls N.E. Lay our course along the Narrows. The " Pot and Pan "
of Hell Gate foam and hiss as we pass ; and two vessels get on shore.
Pass the North Channel, and tack frequently in confined waters. The
sun arises, and illumines the seats along the island ; and we come to
under Frog's Point, which makes out from East Chester, twenty miles
from New York. Take the bonnet from the jib, reef the mainsail,
and at nine o'clock heave up ; pass Hart Island and Sands's Point,
when we are in the Sound, with a tumbling sea. Far as the view
extends, many vessels are tacking from shore to shore, while others
pass us with pleasant gales.

LONG ISLAND SOUND.

We keep the Long Island shore, and find ourselves in Hempstead
Bay, celebrated as the resort of the British fleets during the late war.
Eaton's Neck forms an imposing aspect. A well was dug here, of
great depth, by the British, to procure water, we are told. At sunset
come to under Norwalk Islands, on the northern shore ; and pass the
night six leagues from Fairfield.

Sunday, September 20. — Heave up at four o'clock ; wind at N.W.
We get within two miles of Mill River, and are becalmed. A bar
extends from Sasco to McKensie Point. While detained here take a
view of Mill River Village. The passage in is very narrow. The
tide is rapid ; and we are carried into the ware, and on to the marsh.
The passages back and forth is nine shillings. Arrive at the Sign of

1869.] JOURNAL OP A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 25

the Sun, in Fairfield, at twelve o'clock. Dine at Mr. Burr's, and pre-
pare to return to Plymouth. Meet with Mr. Pepping (and Mr.
TTaldron). who gives me an account of his visit to Plymouth. Appears
to be much gratified with it ; and is passing through this place on his
way to South Carolina.

Monday, September 21. — Take leave of Fairfield. Dine at New-
field. At Stratford there is a duck manufactory. See many looms as
I pass. Horse races are held here on a fine level road of great length.
Meet the stage, and the top covered with bandboxes. Farmers topping
corn, expecting the equinox storm. Coppers seventy-two the shilling
at the ferry.

NEW HAVEN.

Lodge at Smith's coffee-house. Marshes surround this place, and
mosquitos abound. Take a sketch of the public buildings. Meet with
Mr. Blodget here.

NORTH HAVEN.

September 22. — Ives's, seven miles from New Haven. Breakfast
here. A stage inn : not very good. The road is pleasant to travel.

MIDDLETOWN.

Bigelow's ; twenty miles from North Haven. Have passed through
Wallingford and Durham to this place. In the former there are two
meeting-houses and a church ; many shops. Durham is mountainous ;
rough roads, and narrower than is usual in this State. Abundance of
apples. "Between these places inquired the way of a traveller. " La ! "
says he, " you must turn down by Captain Day's ; and then, d'you see,
when you come to Captain Atwater's, turn to the left." On my telling
him I knew neither of those persons, he expressed great surprise.
Meet but very few travellers in this populous region and pleasant
month. Dine at Bigelow's. Middletown is a charming place ; both
busy and rural ; west side of the Connecticut River. Here are twelve
sail of vessels that trade to the West Indies, and some to Europe ; and
ten feet water at the wharves. The place is laid out in squares. A
Mr. Mortimer has an elegant seat near the river, ornamented by a
double row of button-wood trees, here called " the mall." Dine in this
place, — the road beyond it is on the shore of the river for two miles,
— and pass two gates. It was calm, and the inverted view of the
opposite shores beautiful beyond description.

26 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. fAPRIL,

ROCKY HILL,

A pleasant village between Middletown and Wethersfield, situate on
the river. All these places have navigation. The latter place has
been described before.

HARTFORD.

Bull's coffee-house ; fifteen miles from Middletown. This is a cele-
brated inn. It is noisy; but there is the best attendance. Stages
daily arriving and departing. Opposite is the State House, a wooden
edifice. The Assembly sits alternately, I suppose, here and at New
Haven. I believe there is not much navigation above this. Much
business centres here ; and there are many well-furnished shops and
stores, and various manufactures ; and perhaps two printing-offices.
Pass the night here. I shall detail an appendage to the table. The
toast was brought on in a pewter dish, with a double bottom ; between,
the space was supplied with hot water, by an aperture. Travellers see
many rare and new things.

EAST HARTFORD.

September 23. — Woodbridge's ; ten miles from the city. Crossed
the ferry this morning in a very convenient boat. The fare, two-
pence. Meet loads of coal, which pass over the ferry. Fall in com-
pany with a woman on horseback. I thought she had. a Plymouth
countenance. She asked me where I was from : when she informed
me her name was Holmes ; that her father, Samuel Holmes, came from
Plymouth, and now lived at New London ; her grandfather was
Elisha Holmes ; that her present name was Williams ; lived at West-
field ; and was going to New London to see her friends. Stopped to
see the glass works in this place, superintended by a foreigner, who
gave me a crucible made here. Take specimens of kelp and sand used
here. The works are now out of repair. This town appears thinly
settled : soil light and sandy ; much woods. Breakfast here.

LEBANON-CRANK.

Hill's ; sixteen miles from East Hartford. Have passed through
Bolton and part of Andover in coming hither. The chimneys in the
latter place universally of stone. This is a mountainous district.
Roads are rough, narrow, and obscure. Cultivated settlements, how-
ever, are frequent. Ride in company with a traveller from the Grand

1869.] JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 27

Isle, on Lake Champlain. Governor Trumbull's ancestral seat is in
this town ; not on this road. Dine at Hill's, on roast pig.

SCOTLAND-SOCIETY (iN WINDHAM).

Ripley's ; ten miles from Lebanon-crank. Five back I passed a
bridge over the Shetucket, a river which rises in Brimfield, Mass. ;
which, after winding among these mountains, in Windham, joins the
Thames, at Norwich, sixteen miles hence, and passes on to the Sound,
at New London. The road through Windham runs east and west.
The town is in a valley ; has a court-house and prison, and a very
large school-house, with a lofty spire. Scotland village is four miles
from the court-house, also in a valley. Mr. Ripley, the innkeeper, is
a descendant of one of that name from Hingham, and brother to the
Rev. Mr. Ripley, of Green's Farms, near Fairfield ; is related to the
Bradfords about Plymouth. This stage has been over rugged moun-
tains. Lodge at this place. The tavern is on a hill, which overlooks
the village.

VOLUNTOWN.

September 24. — Dickson's. The frontier town of Connecticut;
adjoins Rhode Island. Fourteen miles from Scotland-Society. Have
passed through Westminster (society), Canterbury, and Plainfield, over
a rude and unequal country. Stone walls again appear. A morning
prospect from a hill in Westminster Society presented phenomena to
me novel. The sun was rising, while the vapors of the night rested in
the valleys, which appeared like a vast lake, interspersed with islands.
The risen day soon dissipated these vapors, when were successively
exhibited forests, spires, cottages, and cultivation. Pass a long bridge
in Canterbury, over the Quinebaug, a river which rises in "Oxbridge
and Woodstock ; divides Canterbury and Plainfield, and joins the She-
tucket in Norwich, when both swell the waters of the Thames. Some
boys were assembled on the bridge in contention : the subject of dis-
pute was a musquash trap. Nations have disputed for the furs of
Nootka, objects comparatively not more important ; and boys are the
germ of nations. Not any mile-stones since I left Lebanon. Break-
fast at Dickson's. Coppers pass at forty-eight the shilling, to those
going east, as they pass thus at Providence. This is the inn which
has been celebrated by the Marquis Chastellux, in his "Travels."
I could embellish too ; for at the moment of my departure the girl
overset and broke all the tea-equipage.

28 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [APRIL,

SCITUATE, R.I.

Manchester's ; thirteen miles from Voluntown. Enter this State at
Coventry, near a log bridge, three miles from Voluntown. Also pass
through a part of Foster, a new township. The militia of Scituate
were paraded on the border of a grove, into which they fired by
platoons. The reverberation of the sound was like cannon, which I
supposed it to be. All the matrons and children of the country were
assembled in their best attire. This part of the State is thinly inhab-
ited, and the buildings are ordinary. A Baptist meeting-house in
Coventry, and another in this place, are without glass or doors. There
is something savage and wild in the appearance of every thing in these
back towns. The road from Hartford to Providence is in a direction
nearly east and west. From Bolton, fifty miles hence, it is a contin-
ued tract of ridges of very high ground. These ridges pervade the
country, while the rivers and streams, in various directions, find a
passage to the Sound, or Narraganset Bay. Dine at Scituate. A
dispute or argument occurred here between a Connecticut man and
a Rhode Islander, on the moral and religious character of their respec-
tive States. The latter observed, that " there may be more religion
in Connecticut, but there was more honest men in Rhode Island ! *

PROVIDENCE.

Dexter's ; twelve miles from Scituate. Arrived here this afternoon.
The last stage the road bounds Johnson on the north, and Cranston on
the south, except the last four miles, being in Johnson. Pawtuxet
River rises in Scituate, Coventry, and Foster, and falls into Narragan-
set Bay below Providence. The elegant spire of the Baptist meeting
[house], in Providence, is conspicuous many miles. The soil is light
and sandy in the western suburbs of Providence. Lodge at this
place.

September 25. — Visit the stone-ware manufactory. The apparatus
for moulding it is simple. Two wooden wheels, placed horizontally,
and a few wooden tools, in the manner of a pottery, are all. The
ware was annealing in a kiln, in which Lisbon salt was occasionally
thrown. Two ranges of holes are on the top ; I suppose for this pur-
pose. The clay is procured from New Jersey. Leave this place in
the forenoon, by the lower ferry on Seaconk River, to Rehoboth,
in Massachusetts. The river is here seventy rods wide. The channel
is crooked, but very deep here, perhaps twenty-five feet. Pawtucket
Falls are three or four miles above. The general name of the river is

1869.] JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 29

the Narraganset. It rises in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Ships
of great burden, 800 tons, and more, are built at Providence, thirty
miles from the ocean. Ride five miles in Rehoboth. Pass a part of
Barrington, R.L, and cross the ferry to "Warren, on Palmer's or
Swansey River, which is here forty rods wide, and thirteen feet depth
at low water in the channel. Its sources are in Rehoboth and
Swansey.

BRISTOL.

Mount Hope, Governor Bradford's seat. Came to this place at
noon, fourteen miles from Providence. Governor Bradford returned
from Newport in the afternoon. Visit in town, and see many visitors
here, where I remain till —

Sunday, September 27. — Appearances of a storm. Leave Bristol
on my way to Plymouth.

REHOBOTH.

Gon^s ; thirteen miles from Mount Hope. Six miles from Bristol
on this road is the boundary of the State, near some large rocks, lying
along the way, where it enters Swansey. There are many cross-roads
in all directions, without indexes.

RAYNHAM, MASS.

This place is twenty-seven miles from Bristol, and twelve of them
are in Rehoboth. Pass through Taunton, and come to Colonel Leon-
ard's, in Raynham, where my brother Wendell is at school. Dine
here, and attend the Rev. Mr. Fobes's meeting, who preached from
John xv. 22. The ancient custom of reading the psalm by the deacon
prevails here : the singing is excellent. Colonel Leonard's house is
pleasantly situated near the banks of Taunton River, on a fine road,
in a rural neighborhood, two miles from Taunton Green.

MIDDLEBOROUGH.

Monday, September 28. — Sprout's ; twelve miles from Raynham.
Came hither by Titiquet bridge, which divides Bridgewater from Mid-
dleborough. The first six miles are in Raynham, two in Bridgewater,
the rest in this place. Pass another bridge on Namaskett or Middle-
borough River, whose source is in the Assawumpsit ponds, once the
favorite residence of Massasoit. Have passed three iron works on
this route. The scenery and the faces I now meet are familiar ; still
more so, as I pass through Plimpton, and meet the teamsters return-

30 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

ing from Plymouth, where I alighted at noon. Thus an excursion of
thirty-two days has afforded as many pages —

" Of all I felt, and all I saw."

It has been performed in the morning of life, when hope gilds our
prospects with hues of gayety, when every object has the aspect of
novelty.

These descriptive lines, written at a subsequent period, are subjoined
as a suitable accompaniment to this journal. — S. D.

TAUNTON RIVER.*

Nature's views more beauteous seem
Than Art can show — be these my theme ;

Taunton, first an humble rill,
Blithely whirls the rural mill ;
Now, along the valleys slow,
Bids the dusky furnace blow ;
Busy sounds incessant call ;
'Tis the tripping hammer's fall ;
Roaring echoes loud awakes,
Where Fall River's torrent breaks ;
Annual tributes grateful bears ;
Feeds a thousand nets and wares ;
Picturesque, thy beauteous views,
Somerset, delight the muse ;
Rural scenes, in verdure drest,
Gay, upon thy margin rest ;
Berkley, Dighton, Swansey, claim
Deeper tides and wider fame ;
Where thy vessel-freighted waves
Tiverton and Bristol laves ;
While thy broader bosom, spread
Far reflects the mountain's head ;
When thy waters, borne away,
Circle Narraganset Bay :
Swell the homage, due to thee,
NEWPORT, daughter of the SEA.

* Taunton River has several heads. The principal is at a pond in the south of
Bridgewater ; another is at the great ponds in the south of Middleborough, and is called
Namaskett, till it joins the Taunton in Titiquet, and runs north. Two other heads are
in Foxborough and Sharon or Stoughton, and run south-east to Taunton and Bridge-
water. Another head is at a pond in Carver, eight miles from Plymouth ; and in Carver
turns a mil!. It runs westerly, through Plimpton and Halifax, to the main river at
Bridgewater. — Note by the Author.

1869.] JOURNAL OP A TOUR TO CONNECTICUT. 31

My travelling expenses on this journey, going.

£ s. d.

Hingham, Cushing's. Supper and lodging 2 10

Milton, Vose's. Breakfast 12

Boston, Mrs. Loring's. Dinner, supper, lodging, and

breakfast 7 11

Cambridge, Bradish's. Dinner, lodging, supper. ... 46

"Weston, Flagg's. Breakfast 14

Marlborough, Williams's. Dinner 10

Worcester, Patch's. Supper and lodging 3

Spencer, Jenk's. Breakfast 11

Brimfield, Powars's. Dinner 12

Wilbraham, Bliss's. Supper and lodging 2 7

Springfield, Parsons's. Breakfast . 14

Windsor, Picket's. Dinner 16

Ferry and hairdressing 6

Wethersfield, Wright's. Supper, lodging, breakfast . . 4 4

Wallingford, Kye's. Dinner 10

New Haven, Smith's. Supper, lodging, and breakfast . 4 3

Hairdressing 9

Curiosities 12

Stratford, Benjamin's. Dinner . 16

Ferry 6

Board at New York, four days 140

Two passages, @ 4s. 9c? 9

Mr. Penfield's bill, board, &c, at Fairfield, about nine

days, and incidental expenses, — I forget it, but say, 3
I think it was less.

~6l6~5

Travelling expenses, returning.

s. d.
Stratford Ferry 6

New Haven. Supper and lodging 3 9

North Haven, Ives's. Breakfast 9

Middletown, Bigelow's. Dinner 16

Hairdressing 7

Hartford, Bull's. Supper and lodging 4 6

East Hartford, Woodbridge's. Breakfast 11

Ferry at Hartford 2

Lebanon-crank, Hill's. Dinner 11

Scotland, Ripley's. Supper and lodging '. . 1 10

Voluntown, Dickson's. Breakfast 11

Scituate, R.I., Manchester's. Dinner 16

Providence, Dexter's. Supper, lodging, and breakfast ..55

Hairdresser 7

Ferry, 5c?. ; Kelly's Ferry, 4c? 9

Amount carried forward £1 5s. lc?.

32 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

£ s. d.

Amount brought forward 151

Rehoboth, GoflTs. Hay 6

Middleborough. Shoeing horse . 16

Hay, &c. . ..10

£18 1

Brought from the other side 6 16 5

8 4 6

Other incidental charges, say 140

£9 8 6

The President, in announcing that the business of the An-
nual Meeting would now be taken up, stated that the Society-
was favored with the presence, at this meeting, of our Corre-
sponding Member, Professor Goldwin Smith..

The Annual Keports of the Standing Committee, the Treas-
urer, the Librarian, and the Cabinet-keeper, were severally
presented and accepted, and referred to the Committee on the
Publication of the " Proceedings."

Report of the Standing Committee, for the year 1868-69.

During the last year, the Society has lost two members, the
Hon. Levi Lincoln, LL.D., and Dr. John Appleton. The
memoir of the former, by the Hon. Emory Washburn, has been
presented for publication. The death of Dr. Appleton was
peculiarly touching, as it occurred almost immediately after
his election to the Society. One Honorary Member, the Rev.
H. H. Milman, D.D., and one Corresponding Member, the
Hon. W. R. Staples, have died in the course of the year. We
have also learned the death of seven persons on the old list of
Honorary and Corresponding Members. Two Resident Mem-
bers have been elected, and there are now two vacancies in the
list. Two Honorary and five Corresponding Members have
been added to our Association. The present number is ninety-
eight Resident and ninety-six Non-resident Members.

Among the additions to the Society's possessions, the most
noticeable are the bust of Mr. George Peabody, by Powers,

1869.] REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE. 33

presented by Mr. Winthrop ; and the Sewall Papers, purchased
by a special subscription from members of the Society.

A new volume has been added to the " Collections." It con-
tains the Mather Papers, the publication of which had long
been desired. A new volume of "Proceedings" will appear
within a few weeks.

Perhaps the most important effort of the Society during
the year, considering all its bearings, was the Course of
Lectures at the Lowell Institute, delivered by the following
Members : the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop ; the Rev. George
E. Ellis, D.D. ; Samuel F. Haven, Esq. ; Hon. William Brig-
ham ; Hon. Emory Washburn ; Hon. Charles W. Uphain ;
0. W. Holmes, M.D. ; Samuel Eliot ; Rev. Chandler Robbins,
D.D. ; Hon. Joel Parker ; Rev. E. E. Hale; and George B.
Emerson, Esq. The interest taken in these lectures en-
courages us to hope that they have strengthened the hold
of the Society upon the community. They are to be pub-
lished in a volume, which will probably appear early in May,
and which, if generally circulated, may carry to other parts of
the country the same favorable impressions that have been pro-
duced here. The associate to whom we owe the idea of these
lectures has already proposed a second course, and we hope
that his new plan may meet the same success as the old. The
history of Massachusetts, to say nothing of other States, is rich
in material, the most varied and instructive with which lec-
turers can desire to deal. Names, characters, events, and the
working out of great principles, religious and civil, are still
waiting the eye that will pierce their depths, and the pen to
describe what the eye has seen.

The office of Assistant Librarian was resigned by Dr. Apple-
ton, at the end of November, after a long and faithful service,
which every member will hold in respectful remembrance. A
sub-committee, charged with finding a successor, was not able
to report until a few weeks since, when Mr. F. H. Hedge, Jr.,
was nominated, and unanimously elected by the Standing Com-

34 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

mittee. He began his labors, which we trust may prove even
longer and more acceptable than his predecessor's, on the 9th
of April. One of the chief necessities of the Library is the
want of shelf-lists, the preparation of which has been intrusted
to a sub-committee ; and the work they have before them will,
when executed, prove the best safeguard that can be devised
for the literary collections of the Society. Other subjects con-
nected with the Library will doubtless be brought forward in
the Report of the Librarian.

The Treasurer's Report will describe the financial condition
of the Society. The Standing Committee have expended some
money during the year upon a new furnace, and in repair of
the flues, which were found in a very unsafe state. The roof,
which had become quite leaky, has been thoroughly repaired.

Such are the matters upon which it seems proper that the
Standing Committee should touch in their review of the year.
In transferring their charge to their successors, the Committee
take leave to point out two questions as worthy of early con-
sideration. One relates to the more general circulation of the
Society's publications, the other to the improvement of the So-
ciety's building, and thereby of the Society's material resources.
Both these topics have been under frequent discussion, and it
is hoped that they may soon be acted upon in such a manner
as to promote the welfare of the Association.

Samuel Eliot, Chairman.

Annual Report of the Treasurer.

The Treasurer of the Society presents the following state-
ment of its financial condition : —

GENERAL ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDING APRIL, 1869.

DEBITS.

John Appleton, salary $666.64

George Arnold 691.63

Insurance 193.75

Incidental expenses 362.29

Amount carried forward $1,914,31

1869.] TREASURER'S REPORT. 35

Amount brought forward $1,914.31

City of Boston, tax of 1868 615.00

Printing 79.00

Books 75.61

Coal 80.25

Repairs 401.95

Appleton Fund 732.18

Massachusetts Historical Trust-Fund 254.31

Note of Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad 1,000.00

Accrued interest 16.00

Expended for purchase of MSS 1,250.00

Disbursement on account of the Peabody subscription .... 101.00

Balance to new account 325.90

$6,845.51

CREDITS.

Balance from old account . .^ $70.63

Suffolk Savings Institution, reH 2,200.00

Suffolk Savings Institution, taxes 615.00

Coapons, Quincy & Palmyra Railroad 80.00

Assessments 701.00

Admissions . . • 30.00

Sales of Society's Publications 421.25

Sundries 8.23

Hon. John A. Lowell, for Thirteen Lectures before the Lowell

Institute 1,300.00

Subscription for the purchase of MSS 1,150.00

Subscription to procure a bust of George Peabody 261.00

$6,845.51

The undersigned, who were appointed a committee to ex-
amine the accounts of the Treasurer of the Massachusetts
Historical Society for the year ending April, 1869, have com-
pared the vouchers with the entries, and find them correct,
and the balances on the ledger as follows : —

DEBITS.

Appleton Fund $666.58

J. E. Thayer & Brothers, on deposit, bearing interest .... 1,944.00

Cash 433.56

$3,044.14

CREDITS.

General account $325.90

Massachusetts Historical Trust-Fund 1,492.86

The Peabody Fund 1,225.38

$3,044.14

Robert M. Mason, ,
N. Thayer,

Boston, April 13, 1869.

1128342

36 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

THE APPLETON FUND, j

This fund consisted of ten thousand dollars, presented to the
Society, Nov. 18, 1854, by the executors of the will of the late
Samuel Appleton, on the condition that its income be applied
to the purchase, preservation, and publication of historical
material. It was received from the executors in ten shares of
manufacturing stocks. These stocks were sold in February
and March, 1863 ; and the net proceeds, amounting to twelve
thousand two hundred and three dollars, were invested in the
real estate of the Society, according to the Declaration of Trust
on file, and recorded in the Register of Deed's office, book 827,
p. 63. Volumes three, four, five, *x, seven, and eight, of the
Fourth Series of the Society's " Collections," were printed from
the income of this fund, and the strictly historical portions of
the volumes of the " Proceedings " of the Society for 1862-63,
and for 1864-65.

The volume of " Collections " issued last year was uncom-
monly large ; and owing to this, and the increased expenses of
printing, the cost of it absorbed the income for the next year.

Account ending April, 1869.

DEBITS.

John Appleton, preparing papers $133.36

John Wilson & Son, printing volume VIII. of Collections bal-
ance 1,137.84

Benj. Bradley & Co., binding, &c 81.28

John Wilson & Son, printing volume IX. of Collections . . . 85.03

$1,437.51

CREDITS.

Balance of old account $38.75

One year's interest of the Fund 732.18

Balance due the Treasurer 666.58

$1,437.51

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL TRUST-FUND.

This fund was originally two thousand dollars, presented to
the Society by Hon. David Sears, by an Instrument dated
Oct. 15, 1855, and accepted Nov. 8, 1855. This provides

,1869.] treasurer's report. 37

that the income is to be added to the principal annually
between July and January, to form a new investment ; but in
any year before such investment, the Society may, by vote,
expend the income for such purposes as may be required ; or
it may, by vote, expend the accumulations of the income, in
whole or in part, towards the purchase or improvement of the
premises belonging to the Society ; " or in the purchase of
works of art or desirable objects " : provided, that in no case
whatever " the original trust-sum be encroached upon or
diminished." By vote of the Society, the sum of five hundred
dollars was paid July 5, 1859, from the accumulation, in aid
of paying the debt incurred by the purchase of the estate which
the Society owns. No other expenditure has been made from
the accumulations of this fund. On the 26th of December,
1866, the principal was increased by a subscription by Hon.
David Sears and Nathaniel Thayer, Esq., each of five hundred
dollars, which makes the principal of the fund three thousand
dollars. The accumulation of income to Sept. 1, 1867, was
$1,238.55, making the amount on which to cast the interest
from Sept. 1, 1867, $4,238.55.

Account ending Sept. 1, 1868.

DEBITS.

Balance to new account $1,492.86

$1,492.86

CREDITS.

Balance of old account $1,238.55

Interest one year on $4,238.55, to Sept. 1, 1868 254.31

$1,492.86

THE PEABODY FUND.

This fund was presented to the Society by George Peabody,
Esq., in a letter dated Jan. 1, 1867, enclosing an order for
820,000 in 10-40 Coupon Bonds, and providing that they or
their proceeds shall be held by the Society as " a permanent
trust-fund, of which the income shall be appropriated to the
publication and illustration of their Proceedings and Memoirs,
and to the preservation of their Historical Portraits." This

38 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Apkil,

trust was accepted by a vote of the Society, Jan. 10, 1867.
The Coupon Bonds have been exchanged for two United States
10-40 Bonds of $10,000 each, registered in the name of the
Society, dated Jan. 12, 1867, and numbered 9,904 and 9,905,
with the interest payable in Boston.

The volume of "Proceedings" for 1866-67 was printed
from the income of this fund, and another volume is passing
through the press.

Account to April, 1869.

DEBITS.

Paid John Wilson and Son, for paper $262.08

Paid John Wilson and Son, for printing Proceedings .... 250.00

S. S. Kilburn, engraving 4.75

A. Trochler and Co., printing 9.63

Balance to new account 1,225.38

$1,751.84

CREDITS.

Balance of old account $368.72

Proceeds of Coupons of September 723.12

Proceeds of Coupons of March 660.00

• $1,751.84

THE DOWSE FUND.

This fund, of ten thousand dollars, was presented to the
Society, April, 1857, by the executors of the will of the late
Thomas Dowse; and it was invested in a note signed by
Edward Hyde and O. W. Watris, secured by mortgage on
real estate. This note was paid on the 7th of April, 1863 ;
and the whole fund was then invested in the real estate of
the Society. The income of this fund is included in the rent
received from the Suffolk Savings Bank ; and the expenditure
is included in salaries paid to the Assistant Librarian and to
Mr. Arnold, who are employed in the care of the Dowse
Library.

PROPERTY OP THE SOCIETY.

The Estate on Tremont Street. — The Society purchased,
March 6, 1833, of the Provident Institution for Savings, the

1869.] TREASURER'S REPORT. 39

second story, and one-half of the attic story, of this building,
for $6,500 ; and on the 13th of March, 1856, the remainder of
the interest of this institution, for 135,000. A portion of this
was paid by subscription ; and, for the remainder, the Society
mortgaged the whole estate to the Suffolk Savings Bank for
Seamen and Others for $27,500. This mortgage was dis-
charged on the 7th of April, 1863. The payments of the note
have been as follows : two thousand dollars from the legacy
of Miss Mary P. Townsend ; sixteen hundred dollars from the
legacy of the late Nathaniel I. Bowditch ; five hundred dollars
from the Historical Trust-Fund ; twelve thousand two hun-
dred and three dollars from the net proceeds of the sale of
stocks of the Appleton Fund ; ten thousand dollars from the
note of Hyde and Watris, constituting the Dowse Fund ; and
the balance, eleven hundred and ninety-seven dollars, from a
donation by the late Hon. William Sturgis, to enable the
Society to discharge the mortgage. The lower floor is rented
to the Suffolk Savings Bank for fifteen years from March 1,
1856, at an annual rent of $2,200.

The Library, Paintings, and Cabinet. — The Library consists
of about eighteen thousand volumes and twenty-eight thousand
pamphlets.

The Society's Publications. — These consist of the thirty-
eight volumes of the " Collections," seven volumes of " Pro-
ceedings," and two volumes of the " Catalogue," — about six
thousand volumes, which are for sale.

The Appleton Fund, of ten thousand dollars ; The Massachu-
setts Historical Trust Fund, of three thousand dollars ; The
Bowse Fund, of ten thousand dollars, — all invested in the
real estate and obligations of the Society, as explained in this
report.

The Peabody Fund. — Invested in two registered United-
States 10-40 Bonds of $10,000 each, bearing five per cent
interest.

The Bowse Library, — This Library was presented to the

40 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

Society by the late Thomas Dowse, and consists of four thou-
sand six hundred and fifty volumes.

The Copyright and Stereotype Plates of the "Life of John
Quiney Adams." — This was presented to the Society by Hon.
Josiah Quiney. It is on sale by Wool worth, Ains worth, and
Company.

Bond of $1,000 of the Quiney and Palmyra Railroad, and a
note of 11,000 of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Com-
pany, dated Feb. 1, 1869.

THE INCOME.

The income of the Society consists of an annual assessment,
on each Resident Member, of seven dollars, or, instead, the
payment of sixty dollars ; the admission-fee, of ten dollars, of
new members ; the rent of the lower floor of the Society's
building ; the sales of the publications of the Society ; the sales
of the " Life of John Quiney Adams " ; the interest on the
Peabody Fund ; a bond of $1,000 ; and a note of $1,000.

In 1868, the Society received a legacy of $2,000 from the
late Henry Harris, Esq., one-half of which was invested in a
Coupon Bond of the Quiney and Palmyra Railroad Company.
The remainder has been invested in a coupon note of the Han-
nibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company. Both securities bear
eight per cent interest, and are free of government tax. No
conditions were attached to this legacy ; and, if thought desir-
able, it may be constituted into a permanent fund.

The course of thirteen lectures, delivered before the Lowell
Institute the past season by members of the Society, produced
thirteen hundred dollars, which will be expended for their pub-
lication.

The income of the Appleton Fund for the next year, it will
be observed, has been absorbed in the publication of the eighth
volume of the " Collections" ; but the expense of the ninth
volume of the " Collections," part of which is in type, can be
met from the general fund.

1869.] librarian's report. 41

The proceeds of the Peabody Fund will be ample to meet
the publication of the volume of " Proceedings " now in the
press.

Respectfully submitted,

Richard Frothingham, Treasurer.

Boston, April 13, 1869.

Annual Report of the Librarian.

The By-laws of the Society require the Librarian to present,
at the Annual Meeting, " a statement of the condition and
wants of the Library, with a notice of the important accessions
that have been made to it during the year." In accordance
with this requirement, the Librarian respectfully submits the
following report.

The growth of the Library during the year has been steady
and satisfactory. The accessions may be classified as fol-
lows : —

Books 626

Pamphlets 2,361

Bound volumes of newspapers 35

Unbound volumes of newspapers 16

Separate numbers of newspapers 609

Maps 6

Plans 13

Broadsides 32

Volumes of manuscripts 30

Manuscripts 48

Fac-similes of manuscripts 8

3,784

Of the volumes added, 509 were by gift, 107 by exchange,
and 10 by purchase. The pamphlets were all given or pro-
cured by exchange. Of the duplicates in the Library, there
have been exchanged 104 volumes and 86 pamphlets for works
wanted, but not owned, by the Society. These exchanges have
been made by the Librarian, under the supervision of the

42 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

Standing Committee. Of the Society's " Collections " and
" Proceedings," 60 volumes have been exchanged for other
volumes of its publications, or for books not in the Library.
In this way 11 volumes of the " Collections " wanted have
been received. In every case where the publications are given
out, the exchange is made by the Standing Committee. Three
bound volumes of newspapers have been given for four others
that were needed to complete sets.

There have been taken out of the Library during the year
197 books, including 9 pamphlets, and all have been returned.
This number, however, is no measure of its usefulness, as
it is daily consulted by persons who come hither, sometimes
from a great distance, to find only in this collection what they
want.

There are now in the Library, it is believed, more than
18,000 volumes, including the files of newspapers and the
manuscripts ; and more than 28,000 pamphlets.

The largest number of books given by any one person
during the year was received from the President of the Society,
Mr. Winthrop. Among his gifts are 268 volumes, besides many
pamphlets, maps, and manuscripts. Of these volumes, 79 are
made up of political and miscellaneous tracts, some of them of
great rarity and value. With proper precaution, Mr. Winthrop
has restricted their use to the Library.

Considerable accessions have been made to the books relat-
ing to the Great Rebellion. Mr. Lawrence has continued his
gifts to this department, having added 33 volumes and 6 pam-
phlets. The collection of this class of books now in the Library
is a very good one, and we hope the Society will be able to
add to it from time to time. It should embrace every thing
that has been printed on either side, bearing even remotely on
the late war. In future years this kind of literature will be
in demand by students of history ; and publications now
deemed unimportant may be the only means of shedding light
on questions of great interest. With these materials, the

L869.] LIBRARIAN'S REPORT. 48

time will come when the impartial history of those great events
can be written.

Within a few weeks an important addition has been made to
the manuscripts in the Library. Through the exertions of the
Reverend Dr. Ellis, Mr. Frothingham, and others, the manu-
scripts of Chief-Justice Samuel Sewall, which had been pre-
served by his descendants during nearly a century and a half,
have come into the possession of the Society. These com-
prise his Journals, Letter-Books, and other miscellaneous
papers ; and altogether they constitute a valuable collection.

There has been a temporary break in the cataloguing of
books and pamphlets during the last four months, owing to
the want of an Assistant Librarian. This position having now
been filled, it is hoped that the work will go on with regularity
and promptness. The. card system has been adopted some
years, and continues to give satisfaction. Since the last Cata-
logue was printed, there has been added to the Library a suffi-
cient number of titles to fill a supplementary volume, and the
means must soon be provided for printing it. In connection
with this subject may be mentioned the want of more shelf-
room. The present accommodation for books is all taken up ;
and additional shelves, if only for temporary use, must be put
up to meet the exigency. This fact, however, is not stated to
discourage any member who has the intention of giving a few
volumes to the Library, from carrying out his benevolent pur-
poses.

Before closing this report, the Librarian desires to put upon
record his high appreciation of the services rendered in many
ways by the late Dr. John Appleton, who was the Assistant
Librarian of the Society during fourteen years. His health
was so feeble that he was obliged to hand in his resignation,
which took effect on the 1st of December last. It was then
hoped that the Society would not lose altogether the benefit of
his large experience in matters pertaining to antiquarian and
historical studies. In the following January, he was elected a

44 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY [April,

Resident Member ; but his associates never had the pleasure ot
seeing him at a meeting, as he died on the 4th of February.
In his death the Society lost one whose place it will be hard
to fill. Respectfully submitted,

Samuel A. Green, Librarian.

April 15, 1869.

The Cabinet-keeper's Report.

The Cabinet-keeper of the Massachusetts Historical Society
submits the following report for the year ending April 15th.

During the year, the Cabinet of the Society has received
accessions from Messrs. Deane, Green, Whitmore, and Win-
throp, of the Resident Members ; from Mr. Grigsby, a Corre-
sponding Member ; and from Messrs. G. C. Burgess, A. W.
Corliss, G. W. Pearson, H. Powers, G. T. Sproat, C. L. Whit-
man, F. A. Whitney, Miss A. L. Pierce, and the Building
Committee of the First Church in Boston.

Among the most interesting of these accessions are the bust
of Mr. George Peabody, by Powers, given by the President of
the Society ; framed photographs of the Old Brick or First
Church in Boston, and of the First Church in Chauncy
Street; a photograph of Daniel Webster, from an early
daguerreotype ; a collection of one hundred and forty-two
engraved portraits of distinguished men of France of the last
century ; photographs of Benjamin Franklin, Adolphe de Cir-
court, and the Trustees of the Peabody Education Fund ; and
an engraved portrait of Peter Stuyvesant.

The identification, by Mr. George Arnold, of the portrait of
Thomas Hutchinson, now hanging in the Society's upper room,
as the original portrait by Truman, presented to the Society by
Peter Wainwright, Jr., deserves special mention, as for many
years another portrait has been supposed to be the original,
and has been engraved as such.

The Cabinet-keeper cannot refrain from expressing the con-
viction, that valuable additions to the Cabinet might be made,

1869.] CABINET-KEEPER'S REPORT. 45

were there proper accommodation for them, so that they could
be arranged for the inspection of members and others ; and,
following the example of his predecessors for some years past,
he urges the matter on the consideration of the Society.
Respectfully submitted,

Henry G. Denny, Cabinet-keeper.

Boston, April 15, 1869.

Mr. Lincoln, from the Committee appointed to nominate
candidates for the offices of the Society, after stating that the
Hon. John C. Gray had declined to serve again as Vice-Presi-
dent, presented the following list : —

President.
Hon. ROBERT C. WINTHROP, LL.D Brookline.

Vice-Presidents.

Col. THOMAS ASPINWALL, A.M Boston.

Hon. CHARLES F. ADAMS, LL.D Quincy.

Recording Secretary.
CHARLES DEANE, A.M Cambridge.

Corresponding Secretary.
Rev. CHANDLER ROBBINS, D.D Boston.

Treasurer.
Hon. RICHARD FROTHINGHAM, A.M Charlestown.

Librarian.
SAMUEL A. GREEN, M.D - : . Boston.

Cabinet-keeper.
HENRY G. DENNY, A.M Boston.

Standing Committee.

WILLIAM G. BROOKS, Esq Boston.

CHARLES C. SMITH, Esq Boston.

Rev. GEORGE W. BLAGDEN, D.D Boston.

Hon. JAMES M. ROBBINS Milton.

HENRY W. TORREY, A.M « Cambridge.

For the Committee.

Solomon Lincoln.

Boston, April 15, 1869.

This list of officers was adopted by the Society for the ensu-
ing year.

46 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

Mr. Lincoln offered the following, which was unanimously
adopted.

Voted, That the thanks of the Society be presented to the
Hon. John C. Gray, Vice-President, and to Dr. Eliot, and W.
C. Endicott, Esq., retiring members of the Standing Committee,
for the interest they have manifested, and the valuable services
they have rendered, in promoting the objects of the Society.

Professor Washburn announced the Memoir of Levi Lin-
coin as ready for publication.

1869.] MEMOIR OP HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 47

MEMOIR

HON. LEVI LINCOLN.

. BY EMORY WASHBURN.

The circumstances under which such a memoir as is pro-
posed in the following pages, must, almost necessarily, be
prepared, should serve as an apology for its defective exe-
cution. The work to be done is not sufficiently removed
from the subject of it, to have had its relations to the historical
events with which it is connected, sufficiently defined to do it
justice ; while, on the other hand, the personal relations of
the writer to one with whom he had long been associated in
the offices of courtesy and friendship, are in danger of giving
to the work more of the character of a eulogy than an impar-
tial biography. Such are some of the embarrassments which
are to be anticipated, in undertaking to prepare a notice of
the Hon. Levi Lincoln, in accordance with the request of
the Massachusetts Historical Society, with which he was asso-
ciated. The most that can be hoped, in the way of its
execution, is, that the details here preserved may serve as
materials for a more ample memoir of one who has been iden-
tified with so many of the events which have characterized
the last half-century of the history of the country.

To do any thing like justice to the subject, it will be neces-
sary to speak of his private, his professional, and his political

48 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

life, in each of which he was eminent for the qualities which
commanded the respect and esteem of the people of the Com-
monwealth.

The father of Governor Lincoln bore the same name, and
was hardly less eminent than the son, in his professional and
political career. He was born in Hingham, in 1749 ; and was
graduated at Harvard in 1772. In 1775, he was admitted to
the bar, and settled in the then rural village of Worcester.
There were only two lawyers remaining in the county. The
leading members of the profession had left the country, on
account of their political antagonism to the prevailing senti-
ments of the people. By diligent devotion to business, with
the skill and ability which he brought to the practice of his
profession, he rose to high distinction as a lawyer, at the same
time that he was taking a leading part in the political agi-
tations of the day.

He was one of the two who were promoted to the rank of
Barristers in that county after the Revolution. He was chosen
to Congress in 1800; and, in the following year, was appoint-
ed by President Jefferson, Attorney-General of the United
States. In 1807, he was chosen Lieutenant-Governor, and re-
elected in 1808 ; and, upon the death of Governor Sullivan,
became Acting Governor. In 1811, he was nominated to a
place on the bench of the United-States Supreme Court, but
declined it, on account of a growing defect of vision, which
terminated in almost total blindness. He died in 1820, at
the age of seventy-one. His wife was a daughter of Daniel
Waldo, Esq., of Worcester.

Levi Lincoln, the subject of this notice, was the oldest of
the children of this marriage. He was born on the 25th of
October, 1782. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1802,
in a class long distinguished by the eminent rank to which
many of its members attained in the professions and in civil
life, two only of whom still survive. Upon leaving college,
he entered upon the study of the law, and was admitted to

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 49

the bar of the Court of Common Pleas in Worcester, in 1805.
As the law then stood, it required two years' practice at that
bar, before an admission could be gained to that of the Su-
preme Judicial Court, as an attorney ; and two years more,
before one could be made a counsellor. He began practice in
Worcester ; and, in due course, became attorney and coun-
sellor in the Supreme Judicial Court. Among the men then
at the bar, were Francis Blake, Jabez Upham, and Seth Hast-
ings. And among those who were afterwards his contem-
poraries, and whom he survived, were John Davis and Samuel
M. Burnside ; whose names are a warrant for claiming for that
bar a rank that, to win distinction or eminent success as a mem-
ber of it, required a more than ordinary share of talent and
ability. Mr. Lincoln, at once, gave an earnest of the success
that awaited him, by the zeal and energy with which he en-
gaged in the business of the profession, and the skill and good
judgment with which he conducted the cases which he had
in charge. His business rapidly increased ; and, in a few
years, he found himself among the leaders of that bar. To
attain this, against such a competition as he had to contend
with, must have required effort and talent of a high order,
when it is remembered that Mr. Blake was one of the ablest
advocates in Massachusetts.

Much of his success may be ascribed to the less dazzling
and more commonplace qualities, which any man, of fair
talents, may bring to the profession, — earnest devotion to
whatever he had to do, fidelity to his clients, and a thorough
preparation in every thing which he undertook. There was,
moreover, in his intercourse with the bench and the bar, as
well as with his clients, a courtesy of manner which, undoubt-
edly, aided him in winning his way as a lawyer. Something
may also be ascribed to his early political associations, which
brought him into connection with an active and earnest body
of men, who were ready to repay, by their patronage and
favor, the aid which he contributed to the cause in which they
were engaged.

50 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

But every one . acquainted with professional success in a
lawyer, knows that something more is wanted than personal
address, or political favor, to attain to eminence in the field
which he has entered. The client does not choose his ad-
vocate because he is personally a popular favorite, but because
he feels a confidence that his cause will be safe in his hands.

The professional labors of a lawyer, in country practice,
such as that in which Mr. Lincoln engaged, were almost in-
finitely varied, as well as at times exceedingly complicated
and perplexing. The duties of chamber counsel were mixed
up with those of a scrivener and conveyancer, while the prep-
aration and trial of jury causes were carried on at the same
time that he must be investigating and applying the most pro-
found principles of law, as well as its technical rules of detail,
in the discussion of questions before the bench.

The consequence was, that his life, while at the bar, was
exceedingly laborious. His services were greatly sought as a
jury advocate ; and although he always argued questions of
law before the whole court, with a thorough preparation, and
with acknowledged ability, it was before the jury that he
achieved his most distinguished success. Nor were his
efforts confined to his own county. His services were being
sought in other parts of the State, to which he was called,
when he was removed from that field of labor, and promoted
to a place upon the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court.

Of his manner, and the elements of his success as an advocate,
it may be more appropriate to speak in another place. But
it-may be remarked, in passing, that he illustrated in that, as
in every other business or occupation in which he engaged, a
thoroughness in whatever he had to do, that gave a dignity
and importance to even the ordinary affairs of life. The
duties, moreover, as well as the rewards of the profession,
were in harmony with his taste and early training; and he
never forgot or ceased to recall with pleasure, in after life, the
period during which he was connected with it, or the associa-

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 51

tions which such memories awakened of the struggles by
which he rose to the places of trust and honor which he after-
wards was called to fill. Nor did he give up the idea, which
he cherished for many years, of returning to it, until quite a
late period in his life.

In February, 1824, a vacancy having occurred upon the
Bench of the Supreme Judicial Court, by the resignation of
Judge Thacher, Mr. Lincoln, then Lieutenant-Governor of the
State, was appointed, by Governor Eustis, to the place. The
selection was generally acceptable to the profession, and was
received with great favor by the people of the Commonwealth.
The bitterness of party feeling which had, at one time,
divided the people, had been losing much of its severity,
and had prepared them to welcome, on both sides, the
nomination which was now made. And the manner in which
he performed it- duties fully justified his selection for the
office. He had a just and appreciative sense of its dignity
and importance, and addressed himself, at once, to meet
its responsibilities. His preparation at the bar had familiar-
ized him with its details ; and his habits of investigating
difficult and complicated questions, as a lawyer, were of im-
mense advantage to him in weighing arguments, and reach-
ing conclusions as a judge. If an overcrowded and busy
life had left him little leisure to gather up the learning which
is found in the books, the quickness and tact with which he
brought the results of his reading and experience to bear
upon the questions upon which he was called to pass, left
little to be desired which his diligence did not readily supply.
These remarks are fully justified by an administration of a
little more than a year, during which time he had occasion to
prepare opinions upon questions of importance, which have
ever since been regarded as leading and authoritative state-
ments of the law, upon the subjects to which they relate. A
new sphere of activity was about to open to Mr. Lincoln, while
that of the bar and the bench became practically closed. But

52 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

he always spoke of his connection with these with affectionate
regret, and retained to the last a high sense of the dignity
and importance of the profession to which he had devoted
twenty years of earnest and hopeful labor. He was now
entering upon the more eminent and attractive period of his
public career. He had taken an active part in the political
discussions of the day, and, at length, was to assume the
Chief Magistracy, and become the political head of the Com-
monwealth. In this case, however, it did not imply the
leadership of a party.

This is no place or occasion to discuss the merits of the
questions which divided the country at the time when Mr.
Lincoln began active life. But the earnestness with which
they were discussed, and the extent to which personal feeling
became enlisted in the maintenance of the issues upon which
opinions were divided, can hardly be conceived from any
thing which is witnessed in the political discussions of our
own day. His father had not only been in sympathy with Mr.
Jefferson in his political views, from judgment and convic-
tion, but shared largely in his personal confidence and re-
gard. He was a zealous " Republican," as those who were
opposed to the Federal party were then called. The party
was a rising one, and professing to represent the popu-
lar democratic element in the government, it was not sur-
prising that the son should have early felt these influences,
and, when he came to act, should have thrown himself
with the zeal and ardor of a young man into the contest.
His family connection, his ready eloquence, and his popular
address soon gave him a commanding influence in his party,
and attracted a corresponding disposition to censure and
animadvert upon his course, on the part of those who were
opposed to him. Bitter things were said of him, and harsh
epithets applied to the measures he advocated, and the
policy he espoused. In contrast with the circumstances
under which he was raised to the chair of the Chief Magis-

869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 53

trate, it would be suggestive as well as instructive to copy
from the partisan press of that day the language in which
men and their motives were dealt with, on the one side and
the other, and to remember that there is nothing like the logic
of events to break down the barriers which separate men in
their opinions, and to bring them together upon a common
basis. Such was, eminently, true in the case of Governor
Lincoln. The Federalists had uniformly been in the ascend-
ent in Massachusetts, until 1807, when, for the first time, a
" Republican " Governor was elected. In 1812, Mr. Lincoln
was elected to the Senate from the County of Worcester.
And so prominent had he already become in the State, that
he was selected by that body to prepare the formal cus-
tomary answer, to the message of Governor Strong, who
had been elected by the Federal party. This election to the
Senate seems to have been the first of that series of popular
elections for which the political course of Mr. Lincoln became
distinguished.

In 1814, he was elected a representative to the General
Court, from the town of Worcester, but found himself in a
minority, in that body. At no time, perhaps, before or since,
was party excitement in the Commonwealth more intense or
active than in that year. It was in the midst of the war with
Great Britain. There was a strong feeling on the part of large
numbers in New England, that her interests had been neg-
lected by the General Government, that the war was unneces-
sary, and that the policy of the administration was illiberal
and unwise, and counter to the spirit and intent of the Consti-
tution. An additional cause of excitement on the part of Massa-
chusetts was awakened in the circumstance that a portion of
her territory had been seized and occupied by the enemy. But
while the Federal party were thus embittered towards the
national administration, there was a growing disposition among
the people, as the war progressed, to sustain it. And in the
election of Governor in the spring of 1814, the majority for

54 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

the Federal candidate scarcely exceeded one hundred, in a
vote of more than 102,000. The majority, however, in the
Legislature was large and decisive. The feeling which had
been growing stronger, with their losses and reverses in the
war, culminated at last in a resolution for appointing fi delegates
from this Legislature to meet and confer with, delegates from
the States of New England, or any of them, upon the subjects
of their public grievances and concerns, and upon the best
means of preserving our resources, and of defence against the
enemy, and to devise and suggest, for adoption by those
respective States, such measures as they may deem expedi-
ent ; and also, to take measures, if they shall think proper, for
procuring a convention of delegates from all the United
States, in order to revise the constitution thereof, and more
effectually to secure the support and attachment of all the
people, by placing all upon the basis of fair representation."

This resolution has been transcribed in full, as a part of the
history of the times, and especially of the convention which
assembled at Hartford, in December, 1814, the memory of
which is still associated with the odium which the real or
affected apprehensions of the public, at large, attached to it
at the time. And yet it is difficult to find in the language
made use of, or the character of the men who took part in it,
any thing to justify the censure to which it was subjected.
Whatever cause of apprehension or alarm there was in calling
such a convention, is to be sought in the circumstances under
which it was held. At the present day, it would serve for
the excitement of an hour, and be forgotten in something
equally grave which might arise to engage public curiosity
and attention.

At the time, however, it was doubtless a matter of serious
import. The resolution was carried by a vote of 260 to 90.
A minority both of the Senate and House made separate pro-
tests against the adoption of the resolution. That on the
part of the House was drawn by Mr. Lincoln, and signed by

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 55

seventy-five members besides himself. The language of the
remonstrance justifies the remark just made, when it says,
" The undersigned therefore cannot disguise their apprehen-
sions, that more must be designed than is distinctly avowed."
Among the consequences which they anticipated from the
measure, as expressed by them, were that " Jealousy and
contention will ensue. The Constitution, hitherto respected
as the charter of national liberty and consecrated as the ark
of our political safety, will be violated and destroyed ; and in
civil dissensions and convulsions our independence will be
annihilated." Fortunately, though the convention was held,
no such disastrous consequences followed ; and the actors in
the scene, on both sides, lived to appreciate the honesty of
each others' motives, and to respect the sentiment which
prompted the ardor of their zeal. As an index, however, of
the feeling which prevailed at the time, the fact should be
stated, that this protest, though respectful in its terms and
signed by so large a number of members, was refused a place
upon the Journal of the House. With such a lesson from the
past, one can hardly fail to look hopefully upon the future of
our popular frame of government, which seems to gather
strength from every struggle through which it has been
called to pass. From 1814 to 1822, inclusive, with the ex-
ception of three years, when he declined being a candidate,
Mr. Lincoln was a member of the House of Kepresentatives.
The last of these years, he was elected Speaker, although
the majority of the House and the Governor were of the
opposite school of politics. The truth is, that political
asperity was fast giving way to a better state of feeling ; and
the tact and independence which Mr. Lincoln had displayed
in his long experience in legislative proceedings, had fitted
him admirably for the place. Nor did he disappoint the
House. He combined promptness with accuracy, firmness
with urbanity, and dignity with impartiality, in presiding over
their deliberations. Few incumbents of the office have evei

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

excelled, if they have equalled him, in the qualities which
constitute an able and acceptable Speaker.

In 1820, in consequence of the separation of Maine from
Massachusetts, it became necessary to amend or modify the
constitution of her government. A convention for that pur-
pose was accordingly called. And in the selection of mem-
bers, the people chose their best and ablest men. No body
of men ever surpassed them, in Massachusetts, for wisdom,
personal and social influence, patriotism and practical sagacity.
The various professions and callings in life were ably repre-
sented. Judges of the highest courts, and statesmen of
the broadest experience, with the ripest scholars, had a
place in its deliberations. When the names of John Adams,
Chief-Justice Parker, Judges Wilde and Story, Webster,
Quincy, Shaw, and Hubbard, afterwards of the Supreme
Court, Hoar, and Saltonstall, are mentioned among its mem-
bers, it is hardly necessary to add, that to take a leading
part in the business of such a convention, must have called
for a high order of talent, as well as great personal influence
and respect. Mr. Lincoln was one of its members. In his
political views and opinions he differed from many of his
associates. He early engaged in its discussions, and showed
himself a ready and effective debater. He never hesitated
to avow and defend his opinions ; and this, at least, may be
said, if he did not convince his opponents, he did not lose
their respect, nor fail to command the attention of the con-
vention. The part which he took in giving shape and consist-
ency to the constitution might justify a fuller notice of the
subjects which engaged his more immediate attention, but
this can only be done by a reference to its reported debates,
which would exceed the limits of the present memoir.

The separation of Maine from Massachusetts involved,
moreover, the adjustment of important interests between
them, such as the division of the public lands ; and a com-
mission for this purpose was created, upon which Mr. Lincoln
held a prominent place.

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 57

In tracing the elevation of Mr. Lincoln to the post of
Chief Magistrate, it is necessary to say a single word of the
change through which the Commonwealth had been passing
in its political views. The Democratic party, as it was
ultimately called, had been gradually gaining strength ; and
the course of the dominant party in the State, during the
war with England, had given occasion for a considerable
defection from its support, especially among the younger
portion of her citizens. With the removal, however, of
the original grounds of disaffection and dispute, the feeling
thereby engendered gradually died away, so that the second
term of Mr. Monroe's administration was spoken of as " the
era of good feeling " ; his election having been all but unani-
mous, as there was but one vote against him, out of 231.
This took place in 1820. While this feeling prevailed in re-
spect to the national elections, the lines still remained pretty
distinctly drawn in .Massachusetts. Governor Brooks held
office from 1816 to 1823. In the latter year, Governor Eustis,
who was of opposite politics, succeeded him ; and Mr. Lincoln
was chosen Lieutenant-Governor. But this state of things
was fast passing away. At the presidential election in 1823,
Mr. Lincoln was one of the electors, on the part of Massachu-
setts, and cast a vote for John Quincy Adams. In 182-4, Mr.
Lathrop was nominated as a candidate for Governor against
Governor Eustis, receiving 34,000 votes to 38,000 for the
latter. Governor Eustis died in February, 1825. The parties
seem to have made this an occasion for coming together, and
agreeing upon some one whom both might support for the
vacant place. Mr. Lathrop declined to be a candidate again
for the office, and Mr. Lincoln declined being a candidate upon
a Democratic nomination, because he was unwilling to stand
in the way of unanimity in the action of the two parties ; where-
upon, it was voted by the Federal Convention that it was not
expedient to make a party nomination, and, upon a ballot for a
candidate for the office of Governor, Mr. Lincoln received a

58 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

unanimous vote. And, of the thirty-seven thousand votes
cast at the election in 1825, he received thirty-five thousand,
and entered upon the office the last Wednesday of May, 1825.

In order to understand and appreciate the character of the
labor upon which he now engaged, it will be necessary to
recall, for a moment, the prior history of the Commonwealth.
Forty-two years had indeed elapsed since the treaty of
peace consummated the war of independence ; and thirty-
seven, since the adoption of the Federal Constitution. But
it ought not to be forgotten, how many had been the causes
of embarrassment in the way of reducing the affairs of the
Commonwealth to a condition of order, and establishing its
industrial, educational, and economical interests upon a satis-
factory basis.

She had come out of the war borne down with a weight of
debt, which left her little power to do any thing beyond
devising means to meet the interest upon it. The message
of the Governor in 1786 stated the proper debt of Massa-
chusetts, independent of her share of the Federal debt, at
over <£ 1,600,000, requiring an annual interest of over
£88,000. The alarming outbreak of lawless violence, known
as Shays's Rebellion, was a culmination of the discontent
arising from this impoverishment of the State, the general
prostration of business incident to such a debt, and the un-
settled state of public credit. Moreover, till considerably
into the present century, the avenues to wealth were confined
to agriculture, commerce, and the fisheries. Manufactures
took their rise within the recollection of many now on the
stage of action. Even the sources of business and occupation
which did exist, became cramped and embarrassed by the
embargo of 1807, and the subsequent derangement of our
commerce up to the close of the war of 1812. In the mean-
time, business and capital were seeking other avenues, and
required the aid and countenance of the government. The
war, moreover, had engrossed much of the attention of the

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 59

public mind. So that these and a variety of like causes and
circumstances had operated to prevent that attention to the
domestic institutions of the State, on the part of its rulers,
which their importance might otherwise have claimed. Our
manufacturing system was to be built up. Our schools were
hardly improved from the condition in which they were left
at the close of the Revolution. The arrangement of our
prisons and the whole subject of prison discipline were in a
very low and unsatisfactory state. Our means of internal
trade and intercourse had not risen above the few lines of
turnpike-road and stage coaches, which maintained a precarious
struggle for success. Nor is it too much to say, that the
trade and business of Massachusetts, at the time of Governor
Lincoln's accession to the executive chair, were in such a
problematical condition, that an indifference towards them on
his part and that of the Legislature would have long retarded,
if it had not ultimately paralyzed, them. Fortunately for the
Commonwealth, it found in him, not only a chief magistrate
who understood the wants of its citizens, but one who was
ready to devote an unwearied and unremitting effort to take
care of and advance to the utmost, her social, political, and
economical interests of every description. In his inaugural
message, he refers to several of them, and calls for an early
attention to them. A favorite scheme for internal communi-
cation at that time was the construction of a canal from
Boston to Connecticut River. This he refers to, with favor,
and suggests that he has been assured that another mode, by
railways, had been approved of in England. But " how far
they would be affected by our severe frosts cannot be con-
jectured yet," and whether they are better than canals re-
mained to be determined. He speaks with approbation of the
encouragement recently given to agriculture, by the incor-
poration of societies, and calls upon the Legislature to relieve
the manufacturing interests, by a change of the law which
held stockholders in corporations liable, personally, for the

60 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

debts of their company to an unlimited extent. He accom-
panies these statements with the suggestive fact that com-
merce was falling off, and reminds the Legislature of the
necessity of prompt measures in favor of a revival of the
trade and business of the State. In his message in January,
1826, he again presses the subject of a canal ; and this he
repeats in that of June that year, and states reasons why
canals are preferable to railways.

As an illustration of the candor and good sense with which
he treated questions of a public nature, it may be stated that
the experience of civil engineering had thus far been, chiefly,
in the direction of canals. That of the Duke of Bridgewater
in England had been eminently successful. The Erie Canal
had been completed in 1825, and was then in full and satis-
factory operation, while that from Worcester to Providence
was in a state of. great forwardness. There was a general
feeling, moreover, that something must be done to aid the
business of Boston, or her decline in wealth and population
would be inevitable. The canals then in progress and in
contemplation would have the effect to divert the trade from
the counties west of Middlesex to the Narraganset Bay and
the Sound. At the June session of 1826, a motion had been
made for a committee to consider and report upon the subject
of a railroad from Boston to the North River, near Albany.
And though it met with no approval, it had been adopted,
and the committee reported in favor of such a measure.
This, it will be recollected, was before a locomotive had
been constructed ; and horse-power, alone, was contemplated
as the means of draught. Nor is it easy now to conceive,
with what incredulity and ridicule the proposition was at
first received. The report of the committee, however, re-
ceived at the hands of Governor Lincoln all the consideration
which the subject deserved ; and, although he had already
in a measure committed himself to the scheme of a canal, he
did not allow his preconceived opinions to stand in the way of

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 61

the measure. In his message of January, 1827, he says:
" Their report will come recommended by the assurance that
their attention has been perseveringly directed to the in-
teresting objects of their commission ; and that, short of the
expense and labor of a board of scientific engineers, a better
source of authentic information could not be resorted to by the
government." The subject, when thus broached, acquired so
much importance in the public mind, that a Board of Internal
Improvement was established by an act of the Legislature in
1828, to consist of nine persons ; and Governor Lincoln was
placed at its head. Under their advice and encouragement,
a system of railroads was inaugurated ; and in just fifteen
years from the date of the report which encountered such
ridicule for the wildness of the scheme it proposed, the road
from Boston to Albany was opened for travel.

Among the railroads incorporated during the administra-
tion of Governor Lincoln, was that from Boston to the " City
of Lowell," in 1829, though the name of that city had no place
upon the map of Massachusetts at the time of his inaugura-
tion. It would be easy to dwell more at large upon the sys-
tem of internal improvements, which took its rise during this
administration, and to which he lent a prompt and efficient
aid, and to trace the growth and increased prosperity of the
Commonwealth in connection with the progress of these
enterprises. But to do so would require a larger space
than can properly be allowed for a personal memoir. In
reminding the reader that the products of the industry of
Massachusetts in the year ending in May, 1865, exceeded five
hundred millions of dollars, it would require no labored effort
to show that something more was wanting than soil and
climate, or the individual toil and labor of the citizen, to work
out such gratifying results. Facilities for trade and inter-
course were not the only objects of the care and encourage-
ment of Governor Lincoln. As already stated, home industry,
in the form of manufactures of various kinds, was a subject

62 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

of special interest to him. In the then condition of the arts
of manufacture, he saw the wisdom of fostering them by the
action of the government. In his public messages and ad-
dresses, he maintained the policy of encouraging and protect-
ing home industry, and, in one of them, in 1826, referred for
illustration, to the "villages" of Lowell and Ware, when
the term " village " was still applicable, alike, to both. He
presided at a public meeting in Boston of the growers and
manufacturers of wool, the following year, and in that year
was chosen President of the New-England Society for the
Promotion of Manufactures and the Mechanic Arts. His
relation to the agriculture of the State will be mentioned
in another connection. The countenance and encouragement
rendered by the chief magistrate of the State to the cause of
American industry, in its early struggles for success, had a
value and importance which can hardly be appreciated in
a community in which its interests are so thoroughly estab-
lished as they now are here. This was felt and acknowledged
at a time when the manufacturer had not only to contend
with competition from abroad, but adverse laws at home ; and
it should not be forgotten now that a wiser policy has become
the settled conviction of the public mind, and the Common-
wealth is reaping the fruits of such a policy.

A subject which gave Governor Lincoln early and anx-
ious solicitude, was the condition of the State Prison, and
the system of discipline prevailing in the treatment and
management of prisoners. To understand this, it should
be borne in mind, that the former barbarous custom of
whipping, cropping, and shutting-up in dungeons and jails,
in idleness, those who had been convicted of crimes, had,
for many years, been discontinued. An important step to-
wards a penitentiary system of punishment had already been
taken by the erection of a prison at Charlestown, and by
requiring of its inmates a certain amount of labor in shops
within the prison-yard. But the idea of solitary or sepa-

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 63

rate confinement, when not engaged in labor, had been
developed, for the first time, at the Auburn Penitentiary,
almost coincident with the election of Governor Lincoln. He
found the inmates of the prison at Charlestown lodged in
large rooms, containing, in some cases, sixteen persons, where
they were shut up together, thus subjecting the yet unhard-
ened convict to the certain process of hopeless corruption and
remediless ruin. They were literally festering in each other's
defilement, under the pretence of correction and reform.
In his annual message of January, 1826, Governor Lincoln
gives a graphic picture of the condition of these inmates, and
adds, in characteristic terms, " Better even that the laws
should be written in blood, than thus be executed in sin."
He recommended substituting for such a prison one upon the
plan of that at Auburn ; and, under his auspices, a most im-
portant reform was early accomplished.

The subject of the, condition of the insane in the Common-
wealth attracted the attention of the Legislature as early as
1827. The idea of curing insanity by medical care and treat-
ment was entertained but by few in the community ; while
many of those who were suffering under this malady were
shut up in jails and cages, or subjected to rigid and severe
restraint in solitude and neglect, and cut off from every hope
or chance of restoration. In 1829, an act was passed for the
erection and establishment of a State Lunatic Hospital, in
the location and construction of which, as well as the com-
pleteness of its appointments, Governor Lincoln took an active
and lively interest. In 1832, he issued his proclamation,
opening it for the public use, and thereby offering comfort and
kind and skilful treatment to that unfortunate class of suffer-
ing humanity.

The subject of popular education was one in which he
always manifested an interest, as well before as after his
term of office, and was made a prominent theme in his official
messages and addresses. To him, it is believed, the Com-

64 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

monwealtli owes the inauguration of the measures which
resulted in that essential element in her present common-
school system, the Normal School. In his message of Jan. 7,
1826, he refers to the suggestion of an institution to qualify
teachers, and commends the measure to "the fostering
patronage of the Legislature." He renews this in stronger
terms in his message of June following, and again urges its
importance in a more distinct and definite form, in that of
January, 1827, These recommendations were so far matured
that in February, 1828, the Committee of the Legislature on
Education reported a bill providing for the establishment of
a school fund, to be, among other things, " appropriated to the
endowment of an institution for the instruction of school-
teachers in each county of the Commonwealth." But the
measure, for some reason, was not then carried ; though it
never seems to have been lost sight of, till it resulted in a
Normal School, such as the Commonwealth is now enjoying.

A circumstance connected with the administration of Gov-
ernor Lincoln, may be mentioned, as tending to show the in-
dependence with which he met its responsibilities. Although
the Constitution had been adopted in 1780, giving to the
Executive the right of Yeto, it had never been exercised by
any of his predecessors. An act incorporating a musical
society, in Salem, had been passed, and sent to him for his
approval. But, while he was a strenuous advocate for that
system of business corporations by which small capitalists
could unite and manage their resources to advantage, without
the embarrassments of large copartnerships, he was not for
needlessly multiplying these artificial persons, where the power
and influence of numbers could be directed and controlled by
a few active managers, and the responsible influence of indi-
viduals be thus lost upon a community. And believing that
the proposed corporation was of the latter class, he interposed
his veto to its passage, in which he was sustained by the
Legislature. But the more important matter upon which he

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 65

felt called upon to exercise this power, was one which had for
some time excited much interest in the eastern part of the
State, and became mixed up with its legislation, by the in-
fluence of those who were immediately concerned in the
scheme. That was the erection of a bridge over Charles
River, between Charlestown and Boston, side by side with the
one already built, and opening it to the free use of the public.
The obvious effect of this measure would be to destroy the
value of the old bridge, which was originally erected by a
private corporation, with a right to take toll, and the shares in
which had become very valuable. Relying upon the supposed
pledge of the government, that the moneys thus invested
should be secure under the protection of the law, large
amounts of the capital stock were held by trustees, charities,
and persons retired from business. Opposed to these were
those who paid toll for the accommodation provided by such a
bridge, and the owners of property, who believed that a free
highway, between Boston and its suburbs, would enhance its
value. And it is hardly necessary to add, that it was not
difficult, in such a controversy, to enlist the weight of num-
bers in favor of the measure. The question that underlay the
whole subject, was, What, in fact, did the Legislature grant to
the proprietors of the Charles-River Bridge, by their original
charter? On the one side, it was insisted, that the charter
for the bridge was a compact between the Commonwealth and
those who were willing to invest their money in the enterprise,
by becoming stockholders in its capital ; that the latter should
erect and maintain, a bridge for the use of the public (who
would pay a reasonable toll for its accommodation), and, as a
consideration for that, they should have the chance of being
reimbursed for their moneys expended in the work, by enjoy-
ing the line of travel which was thereby to be accommodated,
without any act on the part of the Commonwealth to divert it,
or deprive them of it. Those who treated it as a simple grant
of a franchise insisted that there was nothing, in the terms of

66 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

It, which limited the power of the Commonwealth to erect, or
authorize others to erect, any number of bridges, which the
Legislature might judge to be of public utility. But while the
discussions, to which the question gave rise, involved these
points of radical difference, they elicited a sharp controversy,
in which there was much feeling. This found its way into
the Legislature, and threatened to be visited upon any one who
should come out in opposition to the popular cry for free
avenues of business. With the minority in that body, it was
a broader question than the technical limitation of that particu-
lar grant, and reached to the general policy of good faith on
the part of the government. It had a bearing upon future
enterprises, requiring the employment of associated capital.
Even if, in the letter of the grant, the Legislature had not
restricted their right of granting new charters, it was too plain
for contradiction, that both they who granted the original
charter, and they who advanced their money under it, under-
stood that there should be a reciprocal beneflt to the public
and the stockholders, and that the Legislature could not, in
good faith, take away, without compensation, what they had
implicitly granted, after having received, in return, every
thing which they had required of the holders of the charter.
But so strong was the feeling in the House, when the ques-
tion of a " free bridge M came up for consideration, that an
effort to delay the subject, even for a few days, to give mem-
bers an opportunity to examine it, was defeated ; and, after a
sharp but able and elaborate debate, it was carried by a strong
vote. Some of the ablest men in the House opposed it with
signal ability ; and the whole merits of the proposition were
canvassed, but without changing the determination of the
majority. When, therefore, the question of approval came
before the Governor, he was obliged to meet it upon its
own merits ; and if he opposed the popular sentiment un-
der which it had been carried, he saw that he must encoun-
ter the odium of disappointed partisans, and the strong current

1869.] MEMOIR OP HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 67

of public feeling in its favor. But he did not shrink from the
responsibility, nor seek to evade the performance of an un-
pleasant duty. He was satisfied, on the whole, that the act
ought not to pass ; and he fearlessly said so, in a veto message
of great ability, which will remain a perpetual memorial of his
sense of justice, his regard for the faith and honor of the
Commonwealth, and his manly independence in maintaining
his opinion of what was right and duty, against the pressure of
popular clamor. Though the bill was carried through the
succeeding Legislature, and was afterwards sustained by the
majority of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United
States, there was nothing in their judgment which impugned
the soundness of the views upon which the veto of the Gov-
ernor had been based. A protest of a most respectable
minority of the Legislature against the passage of the act was
entered upon its records, and sustained the wisdom and policy
of the Executive in interposing his disapproval of it as a legis-
lative measure.

While calling to mind the purity of motive and firmness
of purpose, with which he performed the duties of his office,
as the Governor of the State and not of a party, by which
his administration was uniformly characterized, there was a
circumstance connected with the exercise of the appointing
power, which ought not to pass unnoticed. By the sudden
and lamented death of Chief-Justice Parker, of the Supreme
Judicial Court, it became necessary to fill the place by some
one to be nomiuated by the Executive. It will be recollected,
that with the remaining members of that court his relations
had ever been of the most intimate and friendly character.
He had been one of their associates upon the Bench ; and he
knew, therefore, the high estimate in which they were justly
held by the community and the Bar, for those qualities which
distinguish an upright and able judge. It would have been a
grateful exercise of his prerogative, and one in which the pub-
lic would have cheerfully acquiesced, to have promoted one of

68 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

their number to the vacant place. He knew, however, the im-
portance of the position. It was second to none in the Com-
monwealth. It demanded high qualifications, and talents of a
most varied character. It was, therefore, an object of far
greater interest on the part of Governor Lincoln in selecting
a candidate, to find one whose competency for the place was
undoubted, than to gratify any personal preferences of his
own. And the wisdom of his choice was justified by the long
and brilliant administration of Chief-Justice Shaw, upon whom
the appointment fell. He, at once, established a claim to the
highest rank as a jurist. And for honesty, uprightness, and
devotion to duty, his record is without a spot. His selection
for the place, and the circumstances under which it was made,
reflect the highest credit for sagacity, good judgment, and
personal independence, upon the course pursued by Governor
Lincoln in this delicate and responsible duty.

But it is not within the purpose of this memoir, to dwell, in
detail, upon the measures in which Governor Lincoln took a
part, during his then unprecedented continuous term of office.
Of the estimate in which he was held as a magistrate, no evi-
dence is needed beyond the uninterrupted succession of elec-
tions until 1834, when he voluntarily withdrew from being
any longer a candidate. Nor is it too much to say, that he
retired from the place with the universal respect and grateful
esteem of his fellow-citizens. He had come into office at a
time when it required, in the chief magistrate, talents and
qualities of a high and varied character, sound judgment,
broad and liberal views, a familiarity with details, a skill in the
adaptation of means to ends, a knowledge of men and an un-
selfish desire to advance the best interests of the Common-
wealth. The summary which even this imperfect sketch
has given of what was accomplished for the promotion of the
establishment and improvement of her industry, her schools,
her institutions of charity for the unfortunate, and of reform
for the criminal, would justify what many have been ready to

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. G9

claim for his administration, a distinguished success which has
not been surpassed by that of any of the illustrious chief
magistrates of the Commonwealth. One circumstance might
have been mentioned, in passing, which served to show a
singleness of purpose on his part, while it indicated the
estimate in which he was held by the Legislature. Upon the
expiration of Mr. Mills's term of office as Senator in Congress,
an attempt was made to elect a successor in February, 1827.
Several ballotings were had, in which the House and Senate
cast their votes for different candidates. At one of these, the
Senate, by a vote of 26 out of 39, chose Governor Lincoln, on
the part of that branch. But before the House had an oppor-
tunity to concur or otherwise, he addressed a communication
to the latter body, declining to be considered a candidate for
the place ; and no one was elected during the session.

Upon retiring from the office of Governor, Mr. Lincoln found
that he had been obliged to make such considerable drafts upon
his private resources to meet the requirements of the place,
that he made up his mind to resume business in his original
profession, and had made an arrangement for the formation of
a copartnership with that view, when, upon the urgent solicita-
tion of his fellow-citizens, he consented to be a candidate to fill
the vacancy in Congress, occasioned by the election of Governor
Davis, as his successor. He was elected to that and the three
succeeding Congresses ; and here he was distinguished for the
same habits and qualities which had characterized him in what-
ever place he had been previously called to fill. He was con-
stant in his attendance, diligent in his attention to business,
and intelligent and independent in his action. Though decided
in his political views, and uncompromising in his advocacy of
what he considered a sound national policy, he never would
lend himself to a factious opposition, nor consent to be a party
to a scheme of questionable propriety or honor. An instance
of this occurred during the canvass for President, at the election
of General Harrison. Among the things charged against

70 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

President Van Buren, and designed to create a prejudice
against him in the minds of certain classes in the community,
was the luxurious style in which he lived, and the extravagance
in which he indulged by an ostentatious display of table and
other furniture. The doctrine that " all is fair in politics " was
liberally applied in the campaign of 1840, and a member from
Pennsylvania made himself famous by the manner in which he
arraigned the President in a speech upon the floor of Congress,
for the use of " gold spoons " and other articles of luxury upon
his dinner-table. This was received with great favor in certain
quarters, but it was little suited to the taste or sense of decency
of Mr. Lincoln, who rose at once to reply to what he regarded as
an unwarranted and undignified attack upon the occupant of the
Executive Mansion. He was unwilling that even a good cause
should borrow aid from so questionable a means of attack,
and he proceeded to show that the charge of extravagance
was unfounded, and that, even if it were true, the incumbent
of the White House was not responsible for the expendi-
ture. The circumstance is nowise important except as show-
ing a characteristic sense of honor that instinctively spurned to
carry a measure by base or underhand expedients. Mr. Lincoln
frequently took part in the debates in Congress, and several
of his more elaborate speeches were published, and might be
more specifically referred to. But, beyond showing the care he
always manifested to make himself master of his subject, and
the directness with which he engaged in the discussions in
which he took a part, it would be of little use to dwell upon
them more at length. One thing, however, may, with justice,
be said of Mr. Lincoln's Congressional career ; and that is, his
course was such as to command the respect of the House. He
never obtruded himself for the purpose of display, he never
came to the discussion of a question without being prepared, he
never tired the House by dull harangues, and never forgot his
self-respect in bitter language or undignified retort. The con-
sequence was, he could always command attention ; and his

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 71

opinions had the weight of well-considered judgments of a fair
and intelligent mind.

Upon the coming into office of General Harrison, in March,
1841, an effort was made by many of the leading merchants of
Boston, to have Mr. Lincoln placed at the head of the Customs
in that city ; and he was early commissioned as Collector of
that port, in accordance with this expressed desire. He held
the office till September, 1843, to the acceptance of all who had
occasion to come in contact with him in the way of advice or
business. They found him ever prompt, impartial, and courte-
ous, and were ready to accord to him the qualities of a faithful,
dilligent, and attentive public officer. But there is little mate-
rial for biography in a mere life of business. Its details would
be as tiresome as the drudgery of its daily routine.

After leaving the Custom House, he engaged, with renewed
pleasure, in the care and cultivation of his beautiful estate in
Worcester, but served, as a Senator from that county during
the years 1844 and 1845. In the latter of these, he presided
over that body, bringing to the place the same freshness of
interest and promptness in details, that he had evinced while a
member of that board more than thirty years before.

In 1848, he was appointed by the Legislature a presidential
elector, and was chosen to preside over the Electoral College.
And in 1864, for the third time, he was elected a member of the
Electoral College, and helped to cast the vote of the State, a
second time, for one who, under Providence, had carried the
country through the fearful ordeal of a civil war. And no one
who had met him, for the first time, on that occasion, could
have imagined that the erect, cheerful, and courteous gentle-
man whom he then saw, had cast an electoral vote for John
Quincy Adams, forty years before, when, with the mature ex-
perience of a Judge of the Supreme Court, he was called upon
to execute that important trust. Indeed, Time seemed to have
dealt so kindly and gently with him, that his friends forgot that
he had passed the climacteric of fourscore years, when, with the

72 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Apkil,

step and erectness ana grace of a man in middle life, he entered
the Council Chamber to perform the grateful duty committed
by his fellow-citizens to his charge.

But in this we have somewhat anticipated the events of his
life, which are yet to be noticed. Under the fostering influ-
ences of that policy which he had so strongly advocated,
the village of Worcester, upon his entering on his public
career, had, in 1848, become a city of seventeen thousand
people. Mr. Lincoln was elected, that year, the first Mayor
of the city, and at once entered upon the duties of organ-
izing and conducting the affairs of this new municipality.
He served for a year in that office, evincing the same exact
attention to its details which he had shown in every place
which he had been called to fill, and, at the same time, dignify-
ing it by the manner in which he sustained its more imposing
duties and relations. The work of giving form and consistency
to a newly organized municipal government, and adapting it to
the condition of a rapidly growing and thriving industry, was
one requiring much thought and a constant oversight ; and it
was fortunate for that city that it could command the services
of so faithful and capable a magistrate to meet the requirements
of the occasion.

But it is doubtful if, of all the places of honor and distinction
to which Governor Lincoln was called by his fellow-citizens,
there was any one which he enjoyed more highly, or entered
into with a keener relish and satisfaction than that of Presi-
dent of the Worcester County Agricultural Society. His tastes
and early habits were associated with rural life. The Worcester
of his boyhood was an agricultural community, and the broad
acres and fine culture of his father's farm early indoctrinated him
with a knowledge of the details of a farmer's life, and a taste
for agriculture as a liberal pursuit. The agricultural society of
the county was formed in 1818, and was one of the earliest in
the State. His father was its first president, and he was himself
elected to that office in 1824. He held the place by successive

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 73

elections till 1852. For many years, it was the only society in
the county. Its annual cattle-show drew together the leading
men, not only of the county, but, often, many from other parts
of the Commonwealth. It was the great holiday of the county,
when the farmer and the man of business, the scholar and the
statesman, came there to do honor to the skill and pursuits of
the husbandman, and to enjoy the society of the men of culture
and intelligence which the occasion drew together. The
central and active spirit of the association was its president,
whose presence and influence were felt and witnessed in all its
details. On no occasion was the profuse and elegant hospitali-
ty for which his house was always distinguished more liberally
displayed than on these gatherings. On the last anniversary
of this Society, Governor Bullock paid a beautiful and fitting
tribute to their late President, in which he spoke of his knowledge
of the science of agriculture, of his fondness for its pursuits,
of his love of trees and his care for their culture and preser-
vation, of his almost poetical fondness for flowers, and the
beautiful things which make the garden so attractive to the
man of refined taste ; and in referring to this trait of hospitality,
as exhibited on the occasion to which we have referred, he said :
" His hospitality after the labors of the show-day were over,
when committee-men assembled under his roof to condense in
the fellowship of the evening, the somewhat diversified and
perhaps somewhat incoherent lessons of the field and the press,
will long be remembered by every one who shared it. The
best farmers from distant towns went away with an enlarged
sense of the elevation and importance of their vocation, and felt
encouraged to strive more stoutly in the next year's competi-
tion."

All that was here said of his admirably managed farm, of his
fine stock, of his love of the beautiful in nature and cultivation,
of the rare union of taste and practical good sense in the
management of his estate, was evinced through his whole life.

Of his social qualities and traits of domestic life it is hardly

74 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

within the province of such a memoir to speak at large. Be-
fore even alluding to these, it is proper to refer to the part he
took in the benevolent enterprises of the day, as well as in the
promotion of the interests of education, and the support of the
civil institutions of the Commonwealth. He was an early
advocate of the Temperance Reform, and presided over the
first State Temperance Convention in the Commonwealth, at
Worcester, in September, 1833, receiving a unanimous resolu-
tion of thanks of the vast body of its friends there congregated,
for the very able and dignified manner in which he had per-
formed the duties of the office. He was, for several years,
President of the Worcester County Bible Society. He had an
earnest and sincere conviction of his duty to God and the
church, and never wavered in the respect with which he
observed the offices and ministrations of religion, and bore
testimony to his belief in the truths of revelation. The touch-
ing and appreciative tribute paid to his memory by the Rever-
end Pastor of the Church of which he was a member, on the
sabbath after his interment, gives us an insight into his re-
ligious character, and can leave no doubt of the sincerity of
the faith which he professed.

Although he retired from public life in 1845, and declined
the place of Senator in Congress when it was offered to
him in 1854, he continued to be called upon, from time
to time, to serve for brief periods in responsible and im-
portant public trusts. In 1847, he was selected, from his
known interest in the maintenance of an effective militia sys-
tem, which he had evinced through his whole career, to serve
upon a commission to revise the existing laws upon that sub-
ject, and report a system for organizing and disciplining the
militia of the Commonwealth, and this he did, by an able and
well-considered report, which became the basis of important
legislative action. In 1854, a commission was constituted to
examine into and report as to the number and condition of the
Insane in the Commonwealth, to which Mr. Lincoln was ap-

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 75*

pointed. And, though the principal labor of detail was per-
formed by one of his associates, his aid in completing the work,
and in preparing an able and satisfactory statement of its re-
sults, was of great value and importance.

His interest in the cause of learning and education was
manifested in various ways, and upon all suitable occasions.
It was seen in his public messages and addresses, as well as his
personal services in connection with the institutions of learn-
ing. The committee of the House, to whom the first report of
the Board of Education, made in 1838, was committed, thus
speak of what he had done towards inaugurating the scheme
of Normal schools, to which reference has already been made.
" The friends of universal education have long looked to the
Legislature for the establishment of one or more seminaries
devoted to the purpose of supplying qualified teachers for the
town and district schools, by whose action, alone, other
judicious provisions of law could be carried into full effect.
At various times the deliberation of both branches of the
General Court has been bestowed upon this, among other sub-
jects, most intimately relating to the benefit of the rising gen-
eration and all generations to come after us, particularly when
the provision for instruction of school-teachers was specially
urged upon their consideration in 1827, by the message of the
Governor ; and a report thereupon, accompanied by a bill, was
submitted by the chairman, following out, to their fair conclu-
sions, the suggestion of the Executive." So that, whatever
may have been the services of others afterwards, it was pro-
per that this tribute to the part thus early taken in the matter
by Governor Lincoln, should be repeated in this connection.
He was, for many years, a member and President of the Board
of Trustees of that venerable institution,' Leicester Academy,
which was founded in 1784, and of which his father had been
a member and its president, as early as the year 1800. He
was always a stanch and active friend and patron of Harvard
College, his Alma Mater, and, for many years, a member of

76 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

her Board of Overseers. In return, he was honored by more
than one of the Colleges of the Commonwealth, with gratifying
expressions of respect for his public services, and his private
worth. In 1824, the honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred
upon him by Williams College, and a like honor was bestowed
by Harvard College in 1826. He was one of the founders of
the American Antiquarian Society, and its Senior Vice-Presi-
dent at the time of his death. He was elected a member of
the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1859. In the suc-
cess of both these associations, he took a lively interest ; and
yet he made no particular pretensions to the character of a
scholar or a man of science. His life had been eminently one
of action ; and the various positions of professional and political
service, which he was called to fill, left little leisure for the
pursuits of literature or scholarship. His knowledge, however,
was varied and extensive ; and his taste had been improved by
a constant association with men of culture and refinement.
He made no pretensions to what he did not feel that he had a
right to claim. Beyond his public and official addresses and
messages, he has left little that was published. Much of that
which he did leave, related to matters of local interest. Of
his Executive Messages, it may be said, without reserve, that
they show a thorough knowledge of the subjects of which
they treat. They are full, clear, and direct ; and, if their
style may sometimes be regarded as diffuse, it is to be ascribed
to that ready command of apt and expressive forms of speech
which characterized all his public performances. He addressed
a letter to his successor, upon his retiring from the Executive
chair, which was published by order of the Senate, in which he
briefly reviews the principal transactions with which his admin-
istration of the office had been connected, many of which have
not been even alluded to in these pages, in speaking of that
period of his life : such as the revision, collation, and arrang-
ment of the colonial and provincial and general statutes ; the
trigonometrical survey of the Commonwealth ; the publication

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEYI LINCOLN. 77

of the geological report of the features, natural scenery, and
character of the country ; the gratifying improvements in the
condition of the State Prison, the progress and condition of the
Lunatic Hospital at Worcester, with other less important
measures. In closing, he adds, and we quote it as an
illustration of the sentiment of the man, and the style of the
writer : " Grateful to my fellow-citizens, in a depth of feeling
which I have no language to express, for the many repeated
and unmerited honors which they have conferred upon me, I
go now to the retirement of private life, to manifest, by the only
means in my power, my sense of obligation in the discharge of
the more humble but not less imperative duties of a faithful
citizen, giving his vote and his influence, whatever it may be,
to uphold the glorious fabric of free government, to preserve
the Union of these States, and to strengthen and confirm for an
inheritance to the latest generation, the institutions of piety
and learning, humanity and benevolence, which are the boast
of the present age, and so pre-eminently the enjoyment of our
own prosperous and happy Commonwealth." It is hardly
necessary to add, that this pledge thus solemnly and affection-
ately given, was most faithfully kept to the last. He stood as
calmly and as firmly in his fidelity to the Union and respect for
the Constitution and the law, during the darkest hour of the
Rebellion, as in the most prosperous days of the republic, and
was as true to his loyalty.

Among the publications of Mr. Lincoln which remain, was
an address delivered by him at the consecration of the Wor-
cester Rural Cemetery, in 1838. It shows learning, fine
taste, pure and elevated sentiment, and was associated as a
work of consecration, with the spot in which so many of
his hearers were to repose, at last, together. u I pause here,"
are its words, " in thoughtful contemplation. We stand, this
day, upon the virgin soil of this fair field, with which no
crumbling clay of humanity ever yet has mingled. To-mor-
row it may be ours to inhabit it. Henceforth, when we here

78 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

assemble, it will be in silence and in tears, to commit the
remains of some loved one to the dust, over which we have
trodden ; and again and again shall the grave be opened, until,
one after another, all shall be gathered to their mother earth."
It was, indeed, his commission to see these eloquent words
made history of most of the vast assembly who had gathered
upon the yet unbroken soil of that beautiful receptacle of the
dead, and beneath that autumn sky, within the thirty years
which were yet to be added to his already mature life, before it
was to become his own resting-place.

Of his speeches in Congress, only two are now before us.
Of one of these we have already spoken. The other is a bold
and manly defence of Mr. Adams against the attempt which
was made to censure him in Congress, for even proposing to
the Speaker the question, how far a petition, purporting to come
from slaves, would fall within the rule of the House in respect
to the vexed question of the right of petition ? The subject has
indeed lost much of its importance in the progress of events.
But the circumstance has still a personal significance and
interest, from the promptness and power with which Mr. Lin-
coln threw himself into the conflict, and the readiness he
evinced to maintain the right of petition, and vindicate the con-
duct and character of the North.

His last public speech was made while presiding at an im-
mense gathering of the people, in Faneuil Hall, in December,
1859, on which occasion Mr. Everett also made an eloquent
address. Though he had been so long withdrawn from a par-
ticipation in popular meetings, he stood before the multitude
which crowded that hall, with all the grace and dignity which
had marked his best efforts in middle life, and showed himself
the same earnest and eloquent advocate for what he thought
was right, that he had ever been. And he found in return as
hearty a response, in the applause of those who listened to him,
as he had ever received when he led in the councils of the
State.

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 79

It is not within the plan of this memoir to dwell upon the
local published addresses or reports which occasionally called
for the exercise of his voice or pen, though we ought not to pass
to what relates more immediately to the personal relations of
private life, without a word or two upon what entered so much
into his success as a public man, his manner as a citizen and
his eloquence as a popular debater. His manner in his inter-
course with others was easy, graceful, and dignified, though, at
times, it partook somewhat of the stately. He was always
self-possessed, and, in private, >vas free, social, and often
playful. He had nothing of austerity in his constitution,
and no one could enter more readily into the pleasant humor
of others. Nor was he capable of doing a rude or ungentle-
manly act from carelessness, bad temper, or want of familiarity
with good breeding. His form was erect, his step firm and
elastic, and all his movements were graceful. His bearing was
that of a gentleman of the old school, and he never was be-
trayed into language or conduct unbecoming one of that class.
Manners like these, with a good figure, fine voice, and grace-
ful action, gave force and effect to his efforts as an advocate
and an orator. He had clear and decided views upon the sub-
jects in which he engaged, and these he enforced with an
earnestness and sincerity, which hardly ever failed to command
a lively interest in those to whom they were addressed. His
ready fluency and command of fit and choice language to which
we have alluded, were rarely excelled. He never hesitated for
a word, and the right one always seemed to come at his bid-
ding. He aimed to be master of his subject, and rarely, if
ever, failed to make himself understood. One pleasure in
listening to him was the assurance which every one felt, that
he was adequate to the occasion, and that the cause he advo-
cated would not suffer in his hands. He was, as we have said,
earnest in his manner, and sometimes impassioned ; but he
never violated the laws of courtesy in debate, nor descended to
harshness of epithet, or rudeness in language, or an unbecom-

80 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

ing retort upon an adversary. With these advantages in his
favor, he was able to grapple with great and important subjects ;
and if he failed to reach the highest flights of eloquence, he
had few superiors at the bar, or in the popular assembly, as an
effective advocate and orator. Nor should the unselfish fidelity
with which he stood by a friend to the last be forgotten. He was,
withal, a man of business and detail. He managed his private
affairs with judgment and skill, and gave to them his per-
sonal care and attention. Through life he maintained such
a course of dealing with others, that his word was always as
good as his bond. There was nothing stingy or contracted in
his economy, or habits of thrift. He was generous in his
benefactions, ever ready to respond to the calls of beneficence ;
and in his style of living and the character of his hospitality
he evinced the generous spirit and refined taste which charac-
terized all his social intercourse. His house was the pleasant
resort of strangers, while its doors were ever open to his
friends and his townsmen, to welcome them to the graceful
hospitalities which it supplied. Much of this was due to the
congenial tastes and views of his wife, who was a fit associate
and companion for one who enjoyed so highly the comforts and
elegances of a well-ordered home. She was a daughter of
William Sever, Esq., of Kingston, a well-known family in the old
Colony, and might trace back her lineage to the Winslows and
Warrens of the " Mayflower." She yet survives him, sharing
largely in the respect and esteem of a wide circle of apprecia-
tive friends. Three of their sons and a daughter also survive
him. One son had fallen in the lifetime of the father, while
gallantly leading a charge in the Battle of Buena Yista, in the
war with Mexico.

It is rare that a public man who has once left the stage of
action, after having filled a part as important as that which
had signalized the life of Governor Lincoln, has either occasion
or opportunity to illustrate, in fact, how much he retains of the
spirit and capacity which may have characterized the period of

1869.] MEMOIR OF HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 81

mature and vigorous manhood. But, in his case, the war of the
Kebellion aroused within him all the zeal and patriotic ardor
which he had felt in the flush of early manhood. And, what
was equally marked, it seemed to inspire in him an equal vigor
of body. He spoke and acted at the age of fourscore, as if he
had the stake of a young man's life in the honor of his country,
and the maintenance of the Constitution and the Union. He
never lost heart, nor suffered himself to doubt the ultimate
triumph of the government, and did much to animate young
men to fill the ranks of the army and fight under the flag of
the republic. A son did efficient service at the head of a regi-
ment, and was permanently disabled by wounds received in
battle. Two grandsons, also, did credit to their parentage in
the same service. His zeal and efforts in the cause ceased only
with the war, and his words of cheer and encouragement will
long be remembered by those who listened to them through
the long and dreary period of our civil war. Active, self-
reliant, and self-sustained through this exciting period, the
time came at last, when the powers of a fine constitution
and an ardent temperament gave way before the insidious ap-
proaches of a fatal disease. A few months before his death he
suffered a slight attack of paralysis. But it was the precursor
of the approach of the brief but final sickness which closed his
busy, useful, and honored life. He died on the 29th of May,
1868.

His decease was the occasion for expressions of respect for
his memory, and of sympathy for the family, from the press,
the highest officials of the Commonwealth, and the numerous
associations with which he then was or had been connected.
A public official order issued by the Governor, recognized, in
fitting and appropriate terms, " the dignity and grace of his
long life closing in the veneration and esteem of all." The
Legislature, then in session, commemorated the event by pro-
ceedings indicating their respect for his private worth and
public services. The same was done by the City Council of Wor-

82 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

cester, by the Judges and Bar of the Supreme Judicial Court,
then sitting at Worcester, by the American Antiquarian Society,
the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Directors of the Wor-
cester National Bank, the Bunker-Hill Monument Association,
and the Hingham and Worcester County Agricultural Societies.
The funeral solemnities, at his burial, were at once touching
and imposing. The whole city was moved ; and the citizens of
the neighboring towns gathered along the sidewalks of its
streets, or joined in the long procession that followed his re-
mains from his late dwelling-house to the church, and from the
church to the rural cemetery, in whose consecration he had
taken a part. Business was suspended, and its places closed.
An imposing cortege attended the body on its transit to its
final resting-place, consisting of the Governor and his Council,
Committees of the two Houses of the Legislature, the Indepen-
dent Corps of Cadets, with their band playing a solemn dirge,
together with numerous distinguished citizens from other parts
of the Commonwealth, and citizens of Worcester. One feeling
seemed to pervade the masses of the people, that the Common-
wealth had lost one of her most honored and distinguished
sons, whose life had long been identified with her history, the
city of his home had lost a citizen loved and respected by all,
and every one who had known him, a wise counsellor and a
faithful friend. Deeply interesting services were held in the
church where he was accustomed to worship, in which the Rev.
Drs. Hill and Ellis took parts, and spoke of the deceased as
only those who had known him intimately could have done, to
those who crowded the edifice. And thus he died and was
buried, the last, we believe, of that list of great and distinguished
men, whose lives were associated with one of the most interest-
ing and brilliant periods of Massachusetts History. Webster,
John Davis, Choate, Everett, John Quincy Adams, Chief-Justice
Shaw, Quincy, and now Lincoln, had all been contemporary,
and present a collection of names never surpassed and rarely
equalled in dignity, power, and influence, in a Commonwealth

1869.] MEMOIR OP HON. LEVI LINCOLN. 83

whose pride and glory have been her sons. Extended as this
memoir may seem to be, in justice to the subject it should be
added, that it is necessarily unsatisfactory and incomplete, and,
as such, must claim the indulgence which is due to the brief
space which, at best, can be allowed to it, in the transactions
of the Society under whose auspices it has been prepared.

84 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

MAY MEETING.

A stated meeting of the Society was held this day, Thursday,
13th May, at eleven o'clock, a.m. ; the President in the chair.

The Recording Secretary read the record of the last meeting.

The Cabinet-keeper reported the following gifts to the Cab-
inet ; namely : —

A framed photograph of the College of William and Mary,
at Williamsburg, Ya., on the back of which was this inscrip-
tion : " Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and finished in 1703,
destroyed by fire in 1705, rebuilt in 1723, destroyed by fire
in 1859, rebuilt in 1860, destroyed in 1862 ; rebuilding com-
menced in 1868 ; presented by Benjamin Stoddert Ewell, now
President of the College " :

Also, a copy of a pen-and-ink sketch of General Washington,
by one of the guests, taken while he sat at a dinner-table :

Also, a medallion likeness of our Corresponding Member,
John Gough Nichols, and his wife, Lucy (Lewis) Nichols,
taken to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of their
marriage, — presented by Mr. Nichols himself, who sent at the
same time a number of valuable books for the Library :

Also, a facsimile of Paul Revere's picture of Boston, taken
one hundred years ago, — a gift of A. L. Sewell and John E.
Miller, publishers, Chicago.

The thanks of the Society were ordered for these valuable
gifts.

The President read a letter from M. Jules Marcou, of Paris,
enclosing a letter from M. Jules Desnoyers, the Secretary of the
" Socie'te' de PHistoire de France " ; promising a valuable addi-
tion to our Library from the Historical Society of France, and
from their Secretary.

Dr. Green called attention to the first volume of the manu-

1869.] REMARKS ON CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 85

script records of the " New North Church," which had been
presented to the Society by the Rev. Mr. Alger, and said that
this volume would be followed by the remaining volumes of the
records in Mr. Alger's possession.

Dr. Ellis presented a copy of " The Speeches of His Excel-
lency Governor Hutchinson, to the General Assembly of the
Massachusetts Bay," &c, Boston, 1773.

The President read the following letter : —

To the President of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Sm, — The Medal and Ribbons received by the late Dr. W. T. G.
Morton from the French Government, &c, together with letters from
your late associate, my brother, Nathaniel I. Bowditch, urging Dr.
Morton to place them with the Historical Society, are now in the pos-
session of the widow of Dr. Morton. She deems them too valuable to be
kept except by some public institution. A secure case with a glass
front, so that the chief articles can be seen safely by the public, has
been prepared.

Mrs. Morton wishes to deposit them with your Society, provided
they can be kept for ever as a memorial of the labors of her husband,
and provided, moreover, they can be placed in such a position in the
hall of your Society as to be visible to all who examine the various
objects of historical interest collected there.

I remain very respectfully yours,

Henry I. Bowditch.

May 5th, 1869.

Whereupon, it was —

Voted, That the Society will gratefully receive the memorial
referred to in the letter of Dr. Bowditch, and that the President
communicate this vote of the Society to him.

The President called attention to the sketch of Hannah
Adams, by Chester Harding, the original of the portrait by
this artist, placed on exhibition in the rooms of the Society
by its owner.
. Mr. J. C. Gray submitted the following remarks on the dis-
cipline and mode of instruction in Cornell University, at Ithaca,
N.Y., as compared with the same in Harvard University: —

86 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

The condition and prospects of the Cornell University at
Ithaca, N.Y., having lately been the subjects of much
public comment, and many comparisons having been made
between this institution and Harvard University, the writer
submits a few remarks on the question how far it is practicable
or desirable so to change the system of education and disci-
pline pursued in the Academic Department of Harvard Univer-
sity, as to render that institution similar to Cornell University
at Ithaca, N.Y. In some particulars, such a change would
be so manifestly impracticable, that it is useless to inquire
whether it would be desirable or otherwise.

1. As to the comparative expense of students at the two
institutions.

The average expense annually of a student at Cornell Uni-
versity, may be estimated at $400. In this estimate is in-
cluded a moderate allowance for clothing, and it is supposed
that during vacation the student boards and lodges free of
expense, in his parents' house or elsewhere. The average
annual expense is estimated in the official circular (Cornell),
at about $275, exclusive of the items last referred to.

The whole annual expense of an undergraduate at Cam-
bridge cannot be estimated at less than $800. The greater
portion of the difference of $400 must be ascribed to the local
position of Harvard College, which, of course, must be deemed
unalterable. It may be therefore affirmed, that to reduce the
expenses of a student at Harvard to an equality with those of
one at Cornell University, or to an approximation thereto, must
be considered absolutely impracticable.

2. Terms of admission. Higher terms of admission are ex-
acted for entrance into the Classical Department of Cornell
University than into any other department, but the classical
proficiency required at this University is materially lower
than at Harvard or Yale. It would certainly be in the power
of the Government at either of those colleges, to reduce the
tciu s of admission. But there is no evidence whatever of a

1869.] REMARKS ON CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 87

desire on the part of either of those bodies to do so, or of the
wish of the public that such a retrograde course should be
adopted.

3. One of the most important differences between Cornell
and Harvard Universities is, that in the former the several
branches of scientific and literary instruction, form one in-
stitution, under the care of the same officers of instruction
and government, who, as far as appears, form one body.
At Cambridge, the Scientific Schools (using the word u scien-
tific" generally) are in fact separate institutions, and not con-
nected with the Academic Department, except that the President
of the College stands at the head of each Faculty. The text-
books of the Medical and Divinity Colleges are generally, it
is believed, different from those of the Academic Department.
Many of the studies of the Lawrence and the Mining School
are pursued, in some degree, by the undergraduates ; such, for
instance, as Mathematics and Geometry. It may surprise some
to hear, that almost every branch of knowledge proposed to be
taught in Cornell University, is well taught at Cambridge,
either in the Academic Department or the Scientific School, or,
in some cases, in both. It is far from certain, in the writer's
opinion, that such connection as does exist at Cambridge be-
tween the several Scientific Schools and the College proper, is
of advantage to either side, and that all parties might not have
prospered as well if all the schools had been located in Boston,
leaving the Academic Department by itself at Cambridge. But
this question is no longer an open one.

4. In the Cornell University, it is proposed to carry the op-
tional system to the fullest extent. In Cambridge, a very large
though not unlimited option is allowed after' the Freshman
year, and the student, more especially, is allowed to relinquish
both the classics and the mathematics ; this certainly is an im-
portant concession to the advocates of a voluntary system. It
is yet to be seen whether the Government of Harvard have not
gone quite far enough on what may be called the liberal side.

88 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

The better way seems to be to subject the present arrangement
to the test of experiment, for a few years at least, without a
change in any direction.

It will appear from the Report on the Organization of Cornell
University, that the objects for which it is founded are materi-
ally different from those pursued by undergraduates at Harvard,
Yale, and the other leading colleges in New England.

The Faculty at the Cornell University, propose, in the main,
to educate pupils directly for some one of the occupations of
practical life. No college in New England professes to do this,
whatever facilities may be offered at Scientific Schools connected
with such college. The object of a studious undergraduate at
Harvard or Yale, for example, is to gain a good general educa-
tion, which may, perhaps, include some knowledge of many
sciences of the most practical kind, but which is mainly calcu-
lated to invigorate, refine, and inform the mind generally, and
thus prepare a foundation deep and broad, for the special pur-
suit of any important branch of industry.

Each description of seminary may be useful in its way. The
Cornell University is as yet an experiment. If a successful
one, it by no means follows that the system pursued in our
college should be abandoned. In that system, the study of the
classics yet holds a prominent place, but at Cambridge, at least,
the pursuit of that study is optional after the first year. It is
certainly possible to exclude it altogether ; but in so doing, to
say nothing of the opinion of many intelligent men in all parts
of our country, or of the patronage which our colleges are now
receiving, we should differ widely in opinion from the Govern-
ment of Cornell University, who have in decided terms recog-
nized the high importance of classical studies, and made
provision for the teaching of them. Abused as our collegiate
system has been (and probably always will be), the people of
New England will hardly agree to the assertion lately put forth
with great seeming confidence, that we find " scholars stepping
out of the highest scholastic positions in college, into nonentity

1869.] REMARKS ON CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 89

in after-life." To speak of Harvard only, as the College best
known to the writer, we find that H. G. Otis, John Quincy
Adams, W. E. Channing, W. P. Preble, and Edward Everett
were among the very best scholars of their respective classes ;
and a large number of names, selected from the living as well ■
as the dead, might be added to the list. Why any radical
changes should be made at once in our system of education at
Harvard, the writer is at a loss to know, though far from main-
taining that there is no room for improvement. Still, there are
some suggestions in the Cornell Report which deserve the
serious consideration of the Faculty of Harvard and other col-
leges. This may be said especially of the remarks on Dormi-
tories. The Report on the Cornell University is decidedly
against the whole system of dormitories, except as a temporary
expedient. It states what was once true of some of our largest
colleges, if not so now, that " no private citizen who lets rooms
in his own house, to four or six students, would tolerate for an
hour the anarchy which most tutors in college dormitories are
compelled to overlook."

Still it appears that, at Ithaca, large dormitories have been
erected from obvious considerations of economy and conven-
ience. For the same reasons, those at Cambridge cannot now
be dispensed with. But the Corporation may well consider the
expediency, if dormitories must be erected in future, of making
them of a much smaller size, and more resembling in other
points respectable private houses. Parietal discipline could
certainly be much better enforced in such moderately sized
lodging houses. The dormitory system has been carried out
fully in English Universities by the construction of large quad-
rangles, with gates closed at night. What enormities are
sometimes perpetrated within those quadrangles may be seen
by referring to Bristed's "Five Years in an English Univer-
sity."

The truth is, that if we expect to collect together from five
hundred to one thousand young men, mostly minors, and to

90 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

rely wholly or mainly on their sense of propriety for the pres-
ervation of good order, we shall soon learn the true value of
such an expectation. Whatever may be said in favor of the
character of college students generally (and much may be so
said), there will always be several in respect to whom a mere
appeal to their sense of propriety would be unavailing, not to
say ridiculous. President Walker remarks, in his Inaugural
Address, that one-fourth of those who enter college, would be
better anywhere else, and this at any rate is altogether a rea-
sonable supposition. While we have large numbers collected in
large dormitories, parietal discipline, and that of a rigid kind,
must be kept up, however disagreeable both to officers and
students.

The writer adds a few remarks on some points presented in
a late Report to the Overseers of Harvard College. First, as
to the compensation of instructors. If these officers are to be
what they should be, or even (generally speaking) what they
have been, the salaries paid at present are any thing but ex-
travagant. The report speaks (p. 35) of the last addition to
the term fees, to be paid by the student, of $45 annually, as
not exorbitant, and this is within the truth. A further addition
of $50 would yield from $20,000 to $25,000 annually. Each
of the undergraduates would thus pay for instruction about $200
annually, that is, no more than the price paid at several private
schools in Boston, and not more than six per cent would
be added to the whole annual expenses of an undergraduate at
Cambridge, which cannot be fairly stated at less than $800. A
Faculty composed of instructors of the highest order, would
form a body, the best calculated of all others, to carry on any
existing system to the best advantage, or to suggest any
changes therein. To fill well the offices of our College Govern-
ment, as opportunity offers, is, indeed, the highest and most
delicate duty of the Corporation and Overseers, and they ought
to be enabled to offer every reasonable inducement to compe-
tent candidates, and all reasonable expenses thus incurred,

1869.] REMARKS ON CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 91

should be defrayed by reasonable charges on the students, and
the addition thus suggested is believed to be clearly of that
character.

2. As to Recitations, the Report to the Overseers contains
some valuable suggestions. Extempore recitations are very
incomplete tests of proficiency. A good memory, a natural
fluency, and even a confident and imposing manner, have often
done much to conceal a want of thoroughness and accuracy.
Written examinations at stated intervals furnish, of the two, a
far better means of ascertaining scholarship. Still it is far
from advisable to dispense altogether with daily recitations, or
to allow them no weight at all, in determining a scholar's rank.
Many young students, and some older ones, require a more fre-
quent stimulus than is furnished by periodical examinations,
and a perspicuous and accurate recitation by a student is often
beneficial not only to himself, but to his classmates who listen
to him.

But after all, one general consideration, already referred to,
can be hardly too much borne in mind. The chief source
whence real improvements should be expected is a faithful and
competent Faculty. It is, or ought to be, the duty of every in-
structor, not merely to carry on class after class in a beaten
track, and sit and hear recitations which prove little as to the
student's faculties and scholarship, except that he has a good
memory. Such a course might answer, or at any rate was
made to answer, in the early part of the present century. But
New-England teachers, and of course New-England scholarship,
were very different then from what they now are. For half a
century previous to 1810, scarcely any change was made in the
requisites for admission, or the course of study at Cambridge,
and it may be safely said that many a scholar gained the high-
est honors with less scholarship, either in science or literature,
than is now required for admission to the Freshman Class. It
is now to be expected that the Faculty should perceive and
suggest all necessary improvements, and it is not to be doubted

92 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

that their suggestions will be duly estimated by Corporation
and Overseers.

Note. — As the Cornell University is scarcely yet in full operation, there is
much in its course of instruction and discipline which has not yet been definitely
arranged. Nothing has yet been said, so far at least as is known to the writer, as
to the manner in which the classes shall be arranged. It is difficult to conceive
how public instruction can be carried on without some such arrangement. But
whether there shall be four classes as in most of our colleges, or three, as in many
of our scientific schools, or what other arrangement of the kind shall be adopted,
— these questions as well as others of great importance, are, doubtless, receiving
a due consideration from the learned Faculty.

Mr. William Sumner Appleton, of Boston, was elected a .Res-
ident Member ; and M. Jules Marcou, of Paris, France, a Cor-
responding Member.

The President presented a sheet of paper, containing, in an
early hand, a draft of some instructions intended for the agents
of Massachusetts, selected to represent the Colony in England.
The paper bears no date, but it was written after the receipt
of his Majesty's letter of the 24th of July, 1679, to which it
evidently refers, and for which see Hutchinson's " Collection
of Papers," pp. 519-522.

If anything be objected ag? haveing our Pattent here, & that it ought
to lye in England & the Governm* managed here by Deputation, as it
hath sometimes been hinted, yo u shall answer : that is wholy inconsistant
w 01 the designe of the undertakers in settling these remote pts of the
world under his Ma tie who intended, as to demonstrate their dependance
on the Crowne of England, so their ready & constant conformity to
the Charter graciously granted to them, to wch end they brought it w tb
them w th out any obstruction from his ma ties p e decessors, & we hope may
be continued here w th out the least offense to his ma tie : who hath we
conceive for the like reason been pleased lately to grant, & send over,
(or suffered to be brought over) Pattents of the same tenour to other
Colonyes here.

As to the delivering up the Province of Maine, purchased of m r
Gorges, yo u shall humbly beg his ma tie9 pardon, If anything acted in
that matter were irregular, or offensive ; it was not att all foreseen or
thought by our late Agents or our Selves. They did w th all diligence

1869.] INSTRUCTIONS TO AGENTS OF MASSACHUSETTS COLONY. 93

enquire of the learned in the Law, who gave their opinion that it might
lawfully be done, neither had our agents any thoughts of his ma ae '
intention of takeing of it into his own hand : But m r Mason haveing
obtained what was formerly belonging unto us, & from whome we had
necessary supplyes of many things ; we thought some releife might be
to us by this Purchase. And is of so great importance, that we hope
his Ma ties favor in continueing the Same to us, w c h hath cost us so deare
formerly & lately, beside what m r . Gorges had. And we doubt not but
to give his Ma tie an Acct of our managm* of the Governm* there to
satisfaction, conformally to the gracious grant to sd m r Gorges.

We suppose we have in the p 'ceding Articles fully instructed yo u in
all things intimated by his ma tie , or intended as to regulation of our
Governm* & managm* of affairs here. But if any other thing be pro-
pounded w c h we cannott foresee or provide for, yo u shall humbly pray
yo n may have time to signify his ma* 63 pleasure to us, & receive our
direction therein, before yo u give any answer or consent there to.

Mr. Davis announced the Memoir of the late Isaac P. Davis,
which he had been appointed to prepare for the Society's " Pro-
ceedings."

94 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

ISAAC P. DAVIS.

BY GEORGE T. DAVIS.

Mr. Davis was born in Plymouth, Mass., Oct. 7, 1771.
His father, Thomas Davis, born in Albany, N.Y., in 1722,
passed a portion of his earlier life in North Carolina, came to
Plymouth as early as 1742, and died in 1785, leaving a com-
petent estate gained in navigation and in mercantile pursuits.
The father of Thomas Davis is believed to have been born in Eng-
land. The mother was a Miss Wendell, of Albany. Thomas
Davis, in 1753, married Mercy Hedge of Plymouth, whose ances-
try is traced to Elder Brewster, Governor Bradford, and others
of the earliest Pilgrims. The issue of this marriage was as
follows : —

Sarah, born 1754, died 1821.

Thomas,

1756, ,

, 1805.

William,

1758,

„ 1826.

John,

1759,

„ 1847.

Samuel,

1765,

, 1829.

Isaac P.,

1771,

, 1855.

Wendell,

1776,

, 1830.

Of these brothers, a writer who knew them well has said, —

" There were six brothers in the family, all of whom held offices of
public trust under the State and United-States Governments, with the

<Jl <f

&SV-7-4

1869.] BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ISAAC P. DAVIS. 95

exception of one only ; they have all passed away, and their memory
held in high regard and honor, particularly the late Thomas Davis, a
former treasurer of this Commonwealth, and the late Judge Davis, so
well known as the learned and upright Judge of the United States Dis-
trict Court.

" William, another of the brothers, was extensively engaged in his
native town of Plymouth in mercantile pursuits; and was much
regarded for his general knowledge, intelligence, and probity. He was
frequently chosen a representative in the State Legislature. Samuel,
another of the brothers, was a man of retiring habits and a most mod-
est demeanor, very curious in antiquarian and genealogical research,
and dealt largely in the chronicles of former times. It was always per*
fectly safe to quote him in matters of fact. Wendell, the youngest
brother, a graduate of Cambridge, became a member of the Senate of
this State at a time when political excitement ran very high ; he was
esteemed a ready and sharp debater, and distinguished himself by his
apt rejoinders to his opponents ; he afterwards held the office of sheriff
of the county of Barnstable."

The subject of this sketch commenced business in Boston in
the latter part of the last century as a rope-maker, having a
considerable manufacturing establishment, and extensive trans-
actions with the Government and with the leading merchants
of that time. Some of his largest contracts with the Govern-
ment were for supplies of cordage to the navy at the time of
the threatened war with France, in 1798. He had large deal-
ings with William and Eben Parsons, with J. & T. H. Perkins,
and other great ship-owners, and retained their cordial friend-
ship to the last. After some years of prosperous business, he sus-
tained losses by fire and by adverse legislation, which reduced
him to comparative poverty, but did not affect the genial and
loyal qualities and the fine tastes which to the close of his life
made his friendship desired and prized.

Mr. Davis married. June 2, 1807, Susan, daughter of Dr.
David Jackson, a distinguished physician of Philadelphia. This
lady, who, in addition to great personal beauty, possessed the
highest qualities of mind and heart, survived him, dying March
30, 1867, at the age of eighty-two. The children of this mar-

96 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

riage were — Thomas Kemper Davis, born June 20, 1808, and
died Oct. 13, 1853 ; and George Cabot Davis, born Jan. 30,
1812, and died June 20, 1833. Thomas K. Davis, graduated
at Harvard College in 1827, first scholar of his class, and was
also class orator. He had fine scholarship and brilliant powers,
but long before his death was withdrawn by disease from the
pursuits of active life.

Mr. Davis became a member of the Massachusetts Historical
Society in 1830, was elected its Cabinet-keeper in 1833, and so
continued till his death.

In 1841, he received the appointment of Naval Officer for
the port of Boston, and retained it till 1845. Fortius appoint-
ment he was principally indebted to the friendship of Mr. Web-
ster ; a friendship which found further expression in the
subjoined dedication of the second volume of Mr. Webster's
works : —

To Isaac P. Davis, Esq.

My dear Sir, — A warm private friendship has subsisted between
us for half our lives, interrupted by no untoward occurrence, and never
for a moment cooling into indifference. Of this friendship, the source
of so much happiness to me, I wish to leave if not an enduring memo-
rial, at least an affectionate and grateful acknowledgment.

I inscribe this volume of my speeches to you.

Daniel Webster.

At the time of his death, Mr. Davis was one of three surviv-
ing original members of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic
Association, — an institution with which he had been connected
for sixty years.

He was a trustee of the Boston Athenaeum from 1830 to
1845.

Mr. Davis died after an illness of some weeks' duration, Jan-
uary 13, 1855.

The above is merely an outline of the life of a man who for
nearly two generations filled a large social place, and is still
remembered with unusual affection by the narrowing circle of

1869.] BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ISAAC P. DAVIS. 97

surviving friends. His personal qualities have been well por-
trayed by one of his nearest friends * in a sketch written just
after his death, but not hitherto published, and which I am per-
mitted to use.

Mr. Winthrop says, —

" Few persons will be more missed from the daily walks of life than
this esteemed and venerated gentleman. Though he had reached the
advanced age of eighty-three years, he had retained a full measure of
his characteristic activity of mind and body until a very recent period,
and but a few weeks had elapsed since he was to be found at his cus-
tomary haunts on the Exchange. Everybody was glad to meet him
there, for he had a kind word for everybody. Nor did he confine
himself to kind words. If an obliging act was within his power, he
was always sure to do it. One was in danger of forgetting that he was
no longer young, so ready and eager was he to anticipate the wishes
of a friend in rendering any service that could be suggested. Indeed,
he knew little of old age, except from the experience it had brought
him ; his heart was always young, and his interest in the daily current
of events lost nothing of its freshness to the end of his life. He was
eminently a man of ' cheerful yesterdays and confident to-morrows.'

'A man of hope, and forward-looking mind,
Even to the last.'

Yet he did not forget that he had passed the allotted term of human
life, and was not unmindful of the great account which was soon to be
rendered.

" Mr. Davis entered life with slight advantages of fortune, but it would
be difficult to name a man who had been happier in his social relations.
Beyond any one of his time he had enjoyed the friendship and intimacy
ot our most distinguished men. He was on terms of familiar inter-
course successively with Fisher Ames and George Cabot, with John
Quincy Adams, Josiah Quincy, Harrison Gray Otis, and Daniel Web-
ster. Nor was his acquaintance limited to those of our own neighbor-
hood. Strangers of distinction were rarely without a letter to Mr.
Davis, and were always sure of receiving from him the kindest atten-
tion, and of being introduced by him to the most agreeable hospitalities.
His memory was thus stored with personal anecdotes and pleasant
reminiscences of many of the most interesting characters in our more

* Hon. Robert C. Winthrop.
13

98 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. TMay,

recent history, and he was rarely without agreeable occasions of relat-
ing them. He took an early and active interest in the encouragement
of American art. He was the friend of Stuart and Allston and Sully,
of Greenough and Powers and Clevenger; and not a few young art-
ists of less celebrity have owed to him the earliest opportunities of exer-
cising their profession. Though not wealthy himself, he knew how to
bring deserving merit to the notice of those that were, and many an
order for a bust or a portrait which has brought hope, and perhaps
bread, to some discouraged and destitute artist, has had its origin in hi?
thoughtful and timely suggestions.

" Mr. Davis, like his venerated brother, the late Mr. Justice Davis,
had a passion for every thing of an historical or antiquarian character.
Born in Plymouth, he was never tired of visiting the Rock, and of
exploring the footsteps of those who first trod it. Indeed, whatever
related to American History, Colonial or Revolutionary, he was eager
to hear and see and understand ; and, though neither a student nor a
writer himself, he often helped those who were writers or students to
facts, or anecdotes, or papers, or memorials, which might have been
looked for in vain anywhere else. His service to the Massachusetts
Historical Society, as one of their most attentive members, and as their
Cabinet-keeper for a long course of years, will doubtless secure for him
the customary tribute in their ' Proceedings,' as they have secured for him
the cordial regard and esteem of all his associates. Mr. Davis was re-
peatedly one of the representatives of Boston in the State Legislature,
and for several years he held the post of Naval Officer in the Boston
Custom House. But he sought no distinction in public life. His dis-
position was for the social circle, where his tastes and his temper emi-
nently qualified him to shine. His genial good-nature, his benevolent
spirit, his peculiar faculty of gathering up whatever was most interest-
ing or agreeable to those with whom he was associated, his quick
appreciation of whatever was curious or novel, his kind, cordial, cheer-
ful manners, — all conspired to make him the selected and solicited guest
of every company, and the welcome visitor of every household.

" His long life was not unclouded by afflictions. He was called to
bear blows which would have broken any less buoyant spirit than his
own. Two sons — his only children — who had given the best promise
of success in their respective professions ; one of them second to no
one of his age in early scholarship — were cut off before him. But
with the aid of an affectionate and devoted wife, he bore up bravely
beneath these bitter disappointments, and was soon the same cheerful

1869.] BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ISAAC P. DAVIS. 99

old man ; — happy, at least, in making others happy. Sinking at last,
under no very protracted disease, he has left a memory which will be
cherished in many hearts, as that of a tried, trusty, affectionate friend,
whom all would have gladly held back yet longer from the grave, to
cheer and brighten the pathway of life."

To the above just and discriminating portraiture, I will only
add some lines upon the same subject, which appeared in print
soon after his death, and which are understood to be from the
pen of Hon. George Lunt.

I. P. D.

Ah, kind and good old man !

Whose life, a golden chain

Of links, still brightening, ran

Through more than fourscore years,

In long-descending train, —

Ripened by sun and rain,

So the full shock should garnered be, and vain

Were our superfluous tears.

Yet, though we may not grieve

For him, who waited but the Master's call,

How oft, at morn, and noon, and social eve,

By genial board, or in the festal hall,

Shall busy fancy weave

Sweet, sad memorials of thy decent form,

Who knew life's sunny hours, and felt its storm,

Saw human nature's every side, and still

Who thought and spoke no ill 1

The cordial grasp of an unsullied hand,

The cheerful aspect and the beaming eye ;

Those silvery locks that crowned a forehead bland

With human sympathy ;

The feeling heart, quick thought and earnest mind,

The true, soft accents from thy lips that fell, —

Where shall we look to find

In soul so gentle left behind 1

Dear, kind old man, farewell !

100 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

JUNE MEETING.

The stated monthly meeting of the Society was held this
day, Thursday, 10th of June, by invitation of the President,
with the concurrence of the Standing Committee, at his house
in Brookline, at half-past four o'clock, p.m.

The Recording Secretary read the record of the last meeting.

The Librarian announced the gifts to the Library the past
month.

The Corresponding Secretary read a letter of acceptance
from the Rev, Edmund de Pressense*, of Paris.

The President then spoke as follows : —

You will not expect from me, gentlemen, any formal words of
welcome on this occasion ; but I cannot omit to remind you
that meetings of this kind have repeatedly been held in former
years, and I hope this may not be the last of them. We had
a most memorable meeting at the house of our lamented asso-
ciate, George Livermore, in Cambridge, on the 26th of June,
1856. It would not be difficult to trace to that meeting the
inspiration which resulted, soon afterwards, in our possession
of the Dowse Library ; and I believe Mr. Deane has so traced
it in the Memoir * of his friend, which forms so interesting a
feature of our new volume of " Proceedings." During the sum-
mer of 1858, we held two such meetings ; one of them at
the historic residence of Longfellow at Cambridge, and the
other at the charming cottage of the late Frederic Tudor at
Nahant. Not a few of those who were present on those occa-
sions are no more ; but others have succeeded to their places,
as still others will succeed to ours ; and I trust that an occa-
sional social meeting in the country will long be something
more than a tradition in our annals.

* See the Memoir aa separately printed, at pages 45-47.

1869.] ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT WINTHROP. 101

We are here, to-day, at what was known to the settlers of
Massachusetts by the repulsive name of " Muddy River," and
of which the first historical account is thus given by Gov-
ernor Winthrop in his journal : —

"August 30, 1632. — Notice being given of ten Sagamores and
many Indians assembled at Muddy River, the Governor sent Captain
Underhill with twenty musketeers, to discover, &c. ; but at Roxbury
they heard they were broke up."

I will not take up your time in dwelling on the old associa-
tions of the place ; but will content myself with reminding
you that a succinct and excellent account of this locality is to
be found, where so many other good things are also to be found,
in our own "Historical Collections." In the second volume of
the second series, printed in 1814, may be read an historical
sketch of Brookline, " extracted from a discourse delivered
there on the 24th of November, 1805, the day which completed
a century from the incorporation of the town," by one whom
so many of us remember with respect and affection, the genial,
warm-hearted, and excellent Dr. John Pierce, " the fifth minis-
ter of Brookline," and a most active and valuable member of
our Society.

In turning over the pages of that sketch, which, among other
matters, contains a list of those who had been educated at Har-
vard University from Brookline, I observed but one name
which I knew to be the name of a living man, and of which
the notice is as follows : —

" Thomas Aspinwall, A.M., son of the Hon. William Aspinwall, Esq.
For several years he was a lawyer in Boston. He is now a colonel
in the United-States Army."

I need not say that this is our honored first Yice-President, of
whom the description was true in 1814, when the sketch was
revised for our " Collections," but of whom more might be said
now than it would be quite fair to say before his face. I am sure
we all feel that in having him here with us this afternoon, we have
the best and fittest representative of o ] d Brookline, — yes, of

102 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

old " Muddy River," — for his name and lineage go back, I
believe, to the earliest settlement of the town.

Let me only add that I think no one who reviews the history
of the place, not merely as given by good Dr. Pierce, but also
as developed and illustrated since by those who have dwelt
within its limits, can fail to be impressed with the rich and co-
pious streams of benevolence and beneficence, of private virtue
and of public usefulness and devotion, which have flowed out
from that old " Muddy River," around which those ten Saga-
mores and their followers were assembled in 1632, when Gov-
ernor Winthrop sent Captain Underbill and his twenty
musketeers to discover and disperse them.

And now, gentlemen, let me devote a few closing words to
something more practical. The year before us is destined to
be an eventful one in our condition as a society. The ap-
proaching expiration of the lease of the lower story of our
building, in Boston, renders it important that we should take
seasonable measures for putting that building into a condition
both for yielding us a larger rent, and for furnishing ampler and
more secure accommodation for our own treasures ; and I hope
that at this very meeting the Standing Committee, or some
other committee, may be authorized and instructed to employ
a careful architect to examine the premises, and prepare plans
and estimates for the work. Above all things, the building
should, if possible, be made absolutely fire-proof.

One other matter seems to me worthy of our consideration.
Our Society is now limited to one hundred members. We
have ninety-nine living Resident Members on our rolls at this
moment. A few of them, Mr. Savage, Dr. Felt, and Dr.
Frothingham, we may hardly hope to see among us often, if
ever, again. I cannot but think that the time is at hand for
entering upon a moderate and gradual enlargement of our So-
ciety, or certainly for obtaining liberty for such an enlarge-
ment. We shall be obliged to go before the Legislature
without much further delay, to obtain permission for holding

1869.] LETTER OF COLONEL BRANTZ MAYER. 103

so large an amount in real estate as our building is now ap-
praised at ; and when we do this, we may well consider
whether the addition of thirty or fifty to our number would
not afford us greater opportunity of doing justice to the claims
of others, as well as of subserving our own interests and pro-
moting the cause in which we are associated.

With these general suggestions, I leave the whole matter
with the Society ; only expressing, in conclusion, the great
gratification it affords me to find so goodly a gathering here
this afternoon.

The President announced as a gift to the Library from the
government of Nova Scotia, through Thomas B. Akins, Esq.,
Commissioner of Records, a volume of public documents, en-
titled, " Selections from the Public Documents of the Province
of Nova Scotia."

The President read a number of letters describing a valuable
collection of Colonial and Continental currency, made by Dr.
Joshua P. Cohen, of Baltimore ; who wishes to sell it, and who
asks 85,000 for it. One of the letters, that of Colonel Brantz
Mayer, President of the Maryland Historical Society, here
follows : —

Baltimore, 23d June, 1868.

My dear Sir, — I have lately had an opportunity of examining
thoroughly the superb collection formed by Dr. Joshua P. Cohen, of this
city, during the last forty years, of the Colonial and early Continental
or Congressional Currencies of North America. This large assemblage
of the various issues embraces nearly three thousand specimens, com-
posed of the " bills of credit " (as they were called) put forth by the
British Colonies in America before and after the declaration of inde-
pendence, as well as by the Continental Congress, from 10th of May,
1775, to the last issue, on the 14th January, 1779.

Let me describe the sets with a little more detail. 1st. The Con-
tinental series made by Dr. Cohen — being the one issued wholly by
Congress — is entirely complete. It embraces fine specimens of each
denomination, and of each date of every issue, exhibiting, by two
specimens, the obverse and reverse of each bill. Besides these, Dr.
Cohen has, very properly, included in his collection many specimens

104 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

of counterfeit and altered notes, with a complete set of the extremely
rare bills of May 20, 1777, and April 11, 1778, which, in consequence
of the immense quantity of forged notes of the same date, issued from
New York, then in possession of the British, were, on the 2d of
January, 1779, ordered by our Congress to be recalled from circula-
tion, and to cease being passed as values. This collection is con-
tained in one large folio volume, neatly mounted, and in regular
sequence.

2d. The bills issued by the Colonies or States, including those of
Vermont in 1781, are very extensive, dating from a very early period
in the history of this species of American currency. Many of them
were printed at the press of Benjamin Franklin, while the cuts that
ornament or distinguish them were in several instances either actually
made by him or under his immediate direction. I am justified in
saying, that this numerous series embraces some of the very rarest
Colonial or State bills, and that no other set of equal value is now
in existence, or could probably be formed by the most industrious of
our collectors.

Dr. Cohen has made it by extensive correspondence, and by repeated
visits to State capitals, and friends in other cities ; and I know that it
has been his zealous labor of love during a lifetime. This series is
embraced in thirteen volumes, similar in all respects to the volume,
previously described, containing the Continental series.

As a companion of these two sets of currency there is, also, a
bound volume, compiled with care and skill by Dr. Cohen, embracing
in manuscript all the enactments of Congress authorizing the various
issues, all the scales of depreciation, a large collection of illustrative
materials, and contemporary opinions of Washington, Franklin, Madi-
son, Jefferson, and other illustrious founders of the republic.

As mere curiosities, these fifteen important volumes would be of
inappreciable value to any enlightened collector. But, as a unique
assemblage of American currency during our early periods, — an assem-
blage which it will not be possible to duplicate hereafter, — I regard the
set as a national historical work ; which (if Dr. Cohen parts with it)
should not be suffered to pass into any other collection than that of
our government. Congress should be eager to obtain it. If now
neglected, in a few years our successors will be surprised at the in-
difference of an ancestry which allowed such a record to escape it.

I beg leave, most respectfully, to call your attention to the matter,
as I understand Dr. Cohen would be willing to relinquish it for such
a national destination.

L869.] LETTER FROM HUGH BLAIR GRIGSBY. 105

The several letters were referred to tlie Standing Committee.

He also read a letter from Mr. W. A. Maury, of Richmond,
enclosing a printed circular relating to the Virginia Historical
Society, whose friends ask assistance to enable it to resume its
operations.

Dr. Ellis announced the volume of " Historical Lectures,''
delivered before the Lowell Institute, as ready for publication.

He presented a pamphlet entitled " A Letter to the Reverend
Andrew Croswell, <fec. By Simon, the Tanner." Boston, 1771.

The President announced a new volume of " Proceedings,"
embracing the transactions of the Society for just two years,
closing with the March meeting, 1869. Whereupon a vote
of thanks to the Recording Secretary, and his associates of the
Committee, was passed.

The President said he had received letters from our Honor-
ary and Corresponding Members, Mr. Bryant and Mr. Grigsby,
who had been invited to attend this meeting, and who regretted
their inability to be present"

He read the following letter from Mr. Grigsby : —

Edgehill, near Charlotte C. H., Virginia, June 5, 1869.
Mr dear Sir, — I regret very much that I cannot be present with
you at the meeting of the Historical Society at your residence on the
10th instant. I have derived so much pleasure and instruction from
the intellectual productions of the members, that I should like to see
and know them in the body, more distinctly than I do at present. In-
deed, there is hardly a day that passes, without my deriving valuable
information and delight from the works of your associates. To omit
the more elaborate works of Mr. Prescott, of Mr. Ticknor, of Mr.
Motley, of Mr. Palfrey, of Mr. Savage, of Professor Parsons, and of
others in letters and law, who may be said rather to represent the
whole country than any part of it, the lighter things which the mem-
bers now and then throw off, as a tree parts with its leaves to the
wind, are most acceptable to me. The Life of Warren I recur to again
and again. The Memoir of Chief-Justice Parsons is a treasure to
every lover of the law. The Life of Prescott is the most fascinating
picture of student-life contained in the several literatures into which
my excursions lead me. It is as if some one who knew Gibbon as

106 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

well as Gibbon knew himself, had undertaken to annotate his autobiog-
raphy. It will incite the young student to high and sustained effort,
for generations to come. It will breed young historians, like rabbits,
from Maine to California. The life of your late Senior Member by his
son (which I also read in the admirable Memoir of President Walker)
presents an interesting account of the middle parties, as contrasted
with the earlier and later, of New England, and is quite as fair a map
of the tertium quid party of Mr. Jefferson's administration as any we
possess. It also contains traits of John Randolph's history and charac-
ter to be found nowhere else. I am waiting for the completion of Mr.
Pickering's life of his father, before I begin the earlier volumes. The
face of Mr. Timothy Pickering's old enemy, by Stuart, — Mr. Giles, —
is looking down upon me as I trace these lines ; but it says not a word,
as John Randolph, Mr. Pickering's old friend, is looking over his
shoulder.

I have already told you how much I was delighted with your two
volumes of the life of your own glorious ancestor ; and I think I have
told you more than once that a life of his illustrious namesake and de-
scendant, Professor John Win thr op, of Harvard, ought to be forthcoming.
Judging from the rude materials which I possess or can recall, a very
fair life of the philosopher is practicable. You know that with Frank-
lin and Rittenhouse, he made up the philosophic trio of the Revolution.
Where is Mr. Sibley, with such a theme at his elbow ? But I would
exhaust your patience, were I to proceed to enumerate the works of
your associates which I have been reading for more than forty years,
and which I still read, — for good books, like good wine, improve with
age ; and although so many of those eminent and excellent men have de-
parted, I should like to see the survivors once more, before they, too,
disappear. And here I ought not to omit the confession of the per-
petual entertainment and instruction which I derive from the solid
phalanx of your " Proceedings " and " Collections." On the topic of
Virginia alone, they are very valuable.

But, liberal as have been the contributions of your associates and
your own to letters, I am ready, like Oliver Twist, to ask for more.
Here, on the banks of the Roanoke, and in the shadow of the forests
that gird the stream of Shells ; and at the distance of a morning's
drive from the dust of Patrick Henry and John Randolph ; and facing
that far distant Land of Flowers, which is the fairest trophy of his
genius, I call for a full, broad, overflowing Life of John Quincy Adams.
It is one of the grandest themes in our history. Here is a man who
may be said to have begun his career in 1777, when he went over with

1869.] LETTER FROM HUGH BLAIR GRIGSBY. 107

his father to France, — for he was an observer from his childhood, —
and who died in full harness as late as 1848 ; if I mistake not, in your
own room in the Capitol ; a lapse of seventy teeming years, during
which he came in contact with the most remarkable figures of that vast
range in Europe and America. Personally, he was in some depart-
ments a very great man, in many admirable, in all respectable. With
the exception of Mr. Jefferson, he was the most self-reliant and fearless
of all our statesmen. This is a striking trait with posterity. Had his
profound sagacity been sustained by a Southern cabinet, Texas would
have been ours, without a drop of blood or a word of quarrel, half a
century ago. I know the delicacy of the task in some domestic aspects,
but it must be done at one time or other ; and it ought to be done at
once by the hand of a son, whose large and liberal experience and
knowledge of the world will teach him to sink the partisan in the patriot,
and view men and things through the medium of a masculine and
generous philosophy. What a flood of light the Diary of Mr. Adams
will throw on the persons and events of more than three-fourths of a
century past ! He saw almost all that was worth seeing from Edmund
Burke to Tom Marshall (on the last of whom he bestowed exalted
praise) and Davy Crockett ; and the images of them all may be re-
posing in his cabinet. By the way, I spent the morning with Mr.
Giles, in 1828 or '29, the day after he received the "National Intel-
ligencer" containing his letters, which Mr. Adams published at his
defiance, and remember the animation with which he commented on
each letter in detail.

There should also be a Life of Mr. Everett, before his classmates and
early contemporaries all pass away. In exact, elegant, abounding
scholarship, it may be said of him what Grattan said of the elder Pitt,
that he stood alone. By all his contemporaries at home and abroad,
he was, in some important respects, unapproachable ; and he mellowed
kindly. His latest works are his best. The last work which I received
from him. and the last of his works that I have read, was his speech
on the 4th of July, 1860. He is the only illustration that I can recall
in recent times, of the possibility of thorough and almost universal
scholarship in a public man in a land of universal suffrage. In this
respect alone, his life would afford an invaluable lesson in this country
to youth, to middle age, and to gray hairs. We must seek his proto-
type, not in this country or in the Anglo-Saxon race, but on the con-
tinent ; and it has often occurred to me that a very fair parallel may be
run, to some extent, between him and Grotius. There was in both
the same amazing precocity in their early attainments, especially in

108 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

Latin and Greek ; both spent a term at the Dutch or German colleges ;
both engaged, almost in boyhood, in the most responsible public offices ;
both received the honors of the Universities wherever they went ; both
put forth their tracts De Veritate; both, forsaking their legitimate
professions, embarked in political affairs ; both became Members of
Congress, and, I think, Secretaries of State, and wrote State papers ;
both were accredited Ministers to the Court of St. James ; if Mr. Ev-
erett was Governor of Massachusetts, Grotius was Pensionary of Rot-
terdam, a far more responsible office in the sixteenth century. Had
Mr. Everett nourished during the administrations of Jefferson and Mad-
ison, we see from his writings that he, too, would have sent forth a Mare
Liberum, which, in a certain sense, he has done ; both were engaged
throughout their whole lives in honored literary pursuits that embraced
many provinces ; there was the same mildness of character and purity
of domestic life in both. Had Mr. Everett finished his long contem-
plated work on the Laws of Nations, of which he has given us a fore-
taste, we should have had a De Jure Belli et Pacis, as well as a De
Veritate and a Mare Liberum. The fortune of the two men was very dif-
ferent. Imprisonment for life, exile, confiscation, the insatiable hatred
of Richelieu, the base ingratitude of his adopted country, are the lead-
ing events in the life of Grotius ; and I am not aware that Mr. Everett
ever met with discomfiture through life, except a failure to be re-
elected governor by a single vote ; and I never heard that he had an
enemy. On the score of speeches, or rather of the elaborate speci-
mens of what Mr. Adams after Cicero calls demonstrative eloquence,
there is no comparison, as these are the inventions of the present cen-
tury. Grotius made his speeches at the bar, and at the bar he did not
remain much longer than Mr Everett remained in the pulpit.

And while I am asking, let me add one thing more. The next year
will be the semi-centennial anniversary of your Convention of 1820.
That was an extraordinary gathering. Yet the memory of it is almost
gone. Though I can call up many of the members who composed it, as
I have no copy of the journal, I cannot tell whether Governor Gore
was there or not. When a youth I knew the character of Gore, who
was the colleague of William Pinkney in London as a commissioner
under the British treaty ; and I knew he lived some eight or ten miles
out of Boston. And, as I was making a pedestrian tour through Mas-
sachusetts, I looked, on leaving Boston, at every elderly person I met
with on the road, hoping to see the fine old man walking into the city,
as was his wont, from his home at Waltham. Had I met him, might
I not have ventured to inquire whether William Pinkney did really

1869.] LETTER FROM HUGH BLAIR GRIGSBY. 109

and truly stop chewing and smoking tobacco while he was a commis-
sioner, or postponed the sacrifice until he became Minister Plenipoten-
tiary ? I still have my doubts on the subject. But no one should
undertake the management of such a theme as your great convention,
without a long notice, and without a deliberate design to do full justice
to the subject.

If I seem to lay too great a stress upon this topic of the lives of men,
it is because I am convinced that one of the chief elements of patriot-
ism is the household growth of the names and deeds of their great and
good men in the hearts of a people. This, more than any thing else,
constitutes the homogeneity of a commonwealth. The tide of change
and time and foreign blood is perpetually breaking away the continuity
between the past and the present ; and we are in constant danger of
becoming an utterly new people, — a bastard people, — a people that
know not father or mother, — that saddest and most dangerous of
things, a people without a past. Now, the affections, if I may so speak,
are practical ; and, to be in earnest, must fix upon persons, rather than
things. We think more tenderly and lovingly of a good deed, and so
of the doer, than we think of a mountain, or a plain, or a stream, or a
bit of paper, write on it what you will. Thus flesh and blood, though
long reduced to dust, become reinvested with life, and are made our
contemporary and friend and counsellor, and, far more than inanimate
nature, kindle our love, quicken our aspirations, and tend to keep the
great family, past and present, of the State one and the same. More-
over, we are told by a high authority, that men who do not celebrate
the worth of those who preceded them, are not apt to leave any thing
behind them worthy of remembrance ; and I recall to your recollection
the sentiment of Tacitus, which I am fond of repeating — contemptu
famcB contemni virtutes, — that we do despite to Virtue herself, when
we fail to keep alive the memory of those whom she has crowned with
honor.

On my return from Massachusetts in 1867, I was frequently asked
what struck me most of all that I saw. The field of observation was
vast indeed. I observed the wonderful increase of your city in the in-
terval of forty years, of Cambridge, and of the neighboring towns ; your
public schools with their twenty or thirty thousand pupils ; your col-
lege with its new halls and overflowing libraries, borrowing fresh youth
from the centuries ; your private and public structures ; the Dowse Libra-
ry and the Winthrop manuscript ; your many valuable institutions, your
munificent endowments ; your intellectual men and brilliant women and
sweet children ; the dust of your illustrious dead, reposing amid the

110 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

smoke and strife of the city, or beneath the fragrant airs of Mount
Auburn ; your unequalled and endless succession of rural villas, which
looked as if your whole land was keeping holiday ; and many other
things ; and I was chastened and delighted with them all. Yet there
were two things, which, in such a harvest of life and art, were almost
insignificant, but which touched me most of all. The first was the large
number of lads and lasses in common apparel, who were ranged on the
benches in the Public Library, quietly awaiting their time to be served
with fresh books in place of those that had been returned ; a moral
spectacle, which, as my mind ran over its innumerable antecedents and
consequents, affected me almost to tears. And the other thing was
the marble statue of James Otis in the chapel of Mount Auburn. I
was struck by it just as Benjamin West was struck by the first sight
of the Apollo Belvidere. I was surprised and delighted to see and
know that the spirit of the great patriot orator of the North was en-
shrined in so God-like a form. I shall never forget my indebtedness to
the kind friend who showed me two such sights. I had never heard
of the statue of Otis. He was my darling character of the more
modern colonial New England, as John Winthrop was of the earlier
time. He stands with us of the South in inseparable union with Pat-
rick Henry. Then his afflictions and timely death placed him, like his
compatriot, Josiah Quincy, Jr., by a peculiar and fortunate canoniza-
tion, beyond the atmosphere of faction, and preserved his lustre unde-
fined by the passion and the dirt of later times. The beauty of his
daily life ; his literary accomplishments, which enabled him, not merely
to draw some vague meaning from a Latin or Greek composition,
which is too often the bound of the knowledge of many modern law-
yers, but to enter into all the worth of its structure, and to relish the
minutest graces of its rhythm, — an art he taught others to acquire in
his tract on prosody; his splendid powers of argumentation, his
vivid eloquence ; his moral heroism ever so conspicuous, his patriotism
ever so pure ; the treatment of his person on that disastrous day so re-
volting, and his magnanimity in forgiving it all so majestic ; that cloud
that came over his lordly intellect when in full blaze and shut him
out from communion with his kind; that memorable death, com-
ing just as his country's independence was achieved and assured and
soon to be acknowledged by the parent-land, and summoning him
instantly away, as it were, by a special messenger from the Most
High, — all these attributes and qualities, which would have imparted
dignity to the humblest figure, embodied in the noblest, appealed with
resistless force to my heart. As I gazed upon that statue, I strained

1869.] JUNE MEETING. HI

my ear and my memory to catch the tones of some patriotic harp
that had hymned its praises, either in the bowers of the University
which claimed the original as one of its brightest jewels, and in the
presence of scholars and divines and statesmen, and those merchant-
princes who so frequently take their coursers from the car of com-
merce and hitch them to the car of philosophy, or in the retirement
of the closet, or in its own hallowed temple ; but I strove in vain.
The Muse of Song, if she ever deigned to pause in the presence of
one of her most skilful worshippers, passed in silence by ; and evet
since that day I have watched the footsteps of Dr. Holmes and Mr.
Longfellow more closely than ever. All know the genius of those
two eminent associates of yours, and their glowing patriotism which
has sparkled on many a brilliant occasion, and who, in their connection
with you, handsomely and happily do homage to History, as one of
the Sacred Nine ; and I have an inward and cheering assurance that,
though the statue itself may perish by time, or fire, or force, or, like
our own Washington, be lifted from its pedestal and borne away by
the invader, posterity, in common with the present generation, will
behold the reflection of the image of New England's most illustrious
patriot-orator of the era of the Revolution, in the immortal verse
of at least two of her greatest poets. How blessed and enrapturing
is the influence of true poetry ! It embalms and popularizes the sub-
limest forms of sculpture and art. Even the Apollo has gathered
new immortality from Childe Harold ; and I never think of the Pres-
cott Swords, but the pleasing strains ' of Dr. Frothingham come over
me.

With an expression of renewed regret that I cannot be with you,
and with the highest respect for the members of the Society,
I am, as ever, truly yours,

Hugh Blair Grigsby.

To the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop,
Boston, Mass.

The President recurred to the subject of the approaching
expiration of the lease of that part of the Society's building
now occupied by the Savings-Bank, and thought the Society
should soon take some steps toward an alteration in the build-
ing, both for a future tenant and for the Society's accommoda-
tion. Whereupon it was —

Voted, To refer this whole subject to the Standing Com-
mittee, with full power.

112 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

The necessity of soon applying to the Legislature for leave
to hold more real and personal property than the present char-
ter allows, and of enlarging the number of our members, was
again alluded to by the President, and it was —

Voted, To refer the subject last named to a committee, con-
sisting of Messrs. Clifford, Ellis, Gray, Deane, and Davis, to
consider the subject, and report to the Society.

Mr. Parkman, who had recently returned from a visit to
Europe, alluded to some papers of considerable value which
he had seen in possession of the Marquis of Montcalm in
Paris ; and particularly to one letter of some historical sig-
nificance, supposed to have been written by General Montcalm,
who fell at Quebec. Mr. Parkman's remarks were substantially
as follows : —

During the last spring I had a number of interviews with
the Marquis of Montcalm at Paris. He informed me that he
had in his possession among his family papers the corre-
spondence of his ancestor, General Montcalm, with his rela-
tives in France during the last French war in America. He
allowed me to examine these papers and have copies of them
made. They proved to be of great interest and value, consist-
ing of forty-nine letters, some of them very long, from Mont-
calm to his mother and sister, besides a considerable number of
other letters written by persons in immediate connection with
Montcalm in America. I caused the whole of them to be
copied.

Among these papers was the remarkable letter written by
Montcalm a short time before his death, in which he prophe-
sies that the fall of Canada will eventually occasion the revolt
of the British Colonies. This letter, together with several
others purporting to be written by Montcalm, was published
in London by J. Almon during the Revolutionary war.* Its

* The letter to which special reference is here made purports to have been written by
General Montcalm to M. de Mol<$, from Quebec, Aug. 24, 1759. This was three weeks

1869.] REMARKS OF MR. PARKMAN. 113

authenticity was, it seems, called in question at the time, ana
has ever since remained in doubt. In course of conversation
with the marquis, — before he had shown me the papers, — he
remarked that the personal and military qualities of his an-
cestor were tolerably well known ; but that he had one quality
which was not sufficiently recognized, and this was his political
foresight, which was proved, he added, by one of his letters
in which he made a remarkable prophecy concerning the
American Revolution. I told him I knew the letter to which
he alluded, as it had been published in England in a small
volume. He expressed great surprise and interest at this,
saying that he had never seen the volume or heard of it,

before the fall of that fortress, which was coincident with the death of General Montcalm,
and was followed by the surrender of Canada to the British power.

The letter was first printed, both in French and in an English translation (the pages
of each made to face those of the other), in 1777, in a small pamphlet, with the following
title: "Lettres de Monsieur le Marquis de Montcalm, Gouverneur-General en Canada;
a Messieurs de Berryer & de la Mole. Ecrites dans les Anndes 1757, 1758, & 1759.
Arec une Version Angloise. * * * ALondres: Chez J. Almon, vis-a-vis de Burlington-
house, Piccadilly, m.d.cc.lxxvii." A corresponding English title follows on the
opposite page, facing this. Besides the letter to Mole\ the pamphlet contains two letters
addressed to " M. de Berryer, first Commissioner of the Marine of France," — one written
in the year 1757, and the other in 1758, — both dated from Montreal.

In the " Gentleman's Magazine" for July, 1777, at page 342, is a notice of this publi-
cation, the writer giving an extract from one of the letters, and concluding thus: " The
whole is worth perusal, and shows that M. de Montcalm was tarn Mercurio quam Marti.
It is proper to add, that the authenticity of the work was lately attacked in the House
of Lords by Lord Shelburne, but ably defended by Lord Mansfield." This debate
will be found in the Parliamentary Register (Supplement), vol. vii. pp. 122, 126, 127.
under the date of May 30, 1777. On the titlepage of a copy of Almon's pamphlet,
among the Ebeling collection in Harvard-College Library, Mr. Sparks has written:
" The letters are unquestionably spurious." Of course, these criticisms apply to the
two letters addressed to Berryer, as well as to the letter to Mole*.

A French writer, the Abbe" Pierre de Longchamps, in a " Histoire Impartiale des
Ev^nemens Militaires etPolitiques de la Derniere Guerre," &c, published at Amsterdam
and at Paris in 1785, at vol. i. p. 6, cites an opinion of an eminent Englishman ("with-
out giving his name), expressed during the French war; namely, that Canada was
the guard of the English Colonies, and he wondered why the ministry wished to conquer
it. Leading from the reference to this Englishman in the text, the writer has a foot-
note as follows: "L'auteur anonyme des Lettres imprim^es sous le nom de Montcalm, &
faussement attributes a ce General. Quoique publics pour la premiere fois en 1777
elles avoient 6te composees des 1757. C'est le premier ouvrage ou Ton trouve la revo-
lution actuelle de 1'AmeVique prexlite d'un ton ferme & ses causes clairement ^nonc^es."

Mr. Sparks, who copied this note of Longchamps upon the titlepage of the copy of
Montcalm's Letters in the College Library, has written under the note the following:
" Query. — Were the letters written in 1757 ? " — Eds.

114 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

though he was aware that a part of the letter had been pub-
lished by Carlyle in his " History of Frederick the Great." *
On the following day I called again, by appointment, upon the
marquis, who had meanwhile arranged his ancestor's papers
in the order of their dates upon a table for my inspection.
The letter in question was among them, the ink and paper
being apparently of the same age with those of the other let-
ters. The handwriting, however, was different, being neither
that of the general himself nor of his secretary. The letter
was evidently a copy written with sufficient care to make it
distinctly legible. Accompanying it, however, was what
seemed to be the original draft, written in an exceedingly
small and almost illegible hand, with many erasures and inter-
lineations. It was in two columns on a small and soiled sheet
of paper. Not being aware at the time that the authenticity
of the letter had been seriously challenged, I cannot say posi-
tively whether or not the handwriting was that of Montcalm.
My belief is that it was so, and that the small, cramped let-
ters corresponded with those which caused so much trouble
to my copyist in the other papers of the general. Being
unable from weakness of sight to compare the original draft
of the letter with the engrossed copy, I directed the person
whom I employed to transcribe them to do so for me ; making
a copy of the engrossed letter, and noting on the margin of
it any variations which might appear in the first draft. As
he made no such notes I infer that the texts were substantially
the same.

Two other letters ascribed to Montcalm were published in
the London volume in connection with the letter in question.
Neither of these was to be found among the family papers of
the marquis.

Mr. Parkman further stated that he had compared the copy
of the letter to Mole* procured from the Marquis of Mont-

* In Volume V. of Harper's edition, at pages 449-451. — Eds.

1869.] REMARKS OF MR. PARKMAN. 115

calm's papers, with that published by Almon in 1777 ; and
he had noticed many verbal variations, though both copies he
believed would be found to correspond in meaning. These
verbal discrepancies must have arisen, he supposed, from
alterations made in the letter which was actually sent, from
the wording of the original draft. The letter, published by
Almon, we may conclude to have been printed from the des-
patched letter, which may have been captured by the English
fleet, and thus diverted from its destination. The two copies
may be seen below, the corresponding portions, side by side
on the same page, and on the opposite page the English ver-
sion as published by Almon.

116

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

[June,

[FROM THE PAMPHLET PUBLISHED BY
ALMON.]

Co-pie aVune Lettre du Marquis de Montcalm d
Mons. de Mole, premier President au Parle-
ment de Paris.

[PROM THE MONTCALM PAPERS.]

Lettre de Mr le Marquis de Montcalm, Gendral
des forces francaises en Amerique d Ml Mole
en 1759.

Monsieur & cher Cousin, — Me void,
depuis plus de trois mois, aux prises avec
Mons. Wolfe : il ne cesse, jour & nuit, de bom-
bardier Quebec, avec une furie, qui n'a gueres
d'exemple dans le siege d'un place, qu'on veut
prendre & conserver. II a deja consume par
le feu presque toute la basse ville, une grande
partie de la haute est ecrassee par les bombes ;
mais ne laissa-t-il pierre sur pierre, il ne vien-
dra jamais a bout de s'emparer de cette capitale
de la colonie, tandis qu"il se contentera de l'at-
taquer de la rive opposee, dont nous lui avons
abandonne la possession. Aussi apres trois
mois de tentative, n'est-il pas plus avance dans
son dessein qu'au premier jour. II nous ruine,
mais il ne s'enrichit pas. La campagne n'a
gueres plus d'un mois a durer, a raison du
voisinage de 1'automne, terrible dans ces pa-
rages pour une flotte, par les coups de vent,
qui regne constamment & periodiquement.

II semble, qu'apres un si heureux prelude,
la conservation de la colonie est presque assure.
II n'en est cependant rien : la prise de Quebec
depend d'un coup du main. Les Anglois sont
maltres de la riviere: ils n'ont qu'a efiectuer
une descente sur la rive, ou cette ville, sans
fortifications, & sans defense, est situee. Les
voila en etat de me presenter la battaille, que
je ne pourrai plus refuser, & que je ne devrai
pas gagner. M. Wolfe, en effet, s'il entend son
metier, n'a qu'a essuyer le premier feu, venir
ensuite a grand pas sur mon armee, faire a
bout partant sa decharge, mes Canadiens, sans
discipline, sourds a la voix du tambour, & des
instrumens militaires, deranges par cet escarre,
ne scauront plus reprendre leurs rangs. Ils
eont ailleurs sans bagonettes pour repondre a
celles de l'ennemi : il ne leur reste qu'a fuir, &
me voila, battu sans resource. Voila ma posi-
tion ! — Position bien facheuse pour un gene-
ral, & qui me fait passer de bien terribles mo-
La connoissance que j'en aye m'a fait

Mon cher Cousin, — Depuis plus de trois
mois Monsieur Wolf me presse vivement, il ne
cesse de bombarder nuit et jour Quebec, avec
un acharnement dont on pourrait a peine citer
un example dans le siege d'une place que l'en-
nemi desire de prendre et de garder. L'artil-
lerie a detruit, quasi en entier, la ville infe-
rieure, une grande partie de la superieure est
ruinee par les bombes; mais quand il n'y resterait
plus pierre sur pierre, les ennemis ne viendront
jamais a bout de leur dessein, tant qu'ils con-
tinueront a nous attaquer par le cote que nous
leur avons abandonne des l'instant de leur de-
scente. Aussi apres trois mois de siege, ils ne
eont pas plus avances que le premier jour.
L'ennemi nous ruine et ne s'enrichit point. La
campagne ne peut durer gueres plus d'un mois;
tant a cause des approches de 1'automne, qui est
terrible pour une flotte sur ces parages, que
des vents periodiques qui y soufflent avec la
plus furieuse impetuosite. II semblerait done
qu'apres de si heureuse commencements, la
surete de la colonie n'est plus en danger : rien
cependant, n'est moins certain. Le sort de
Quebec depend d'une seule chose : les Anglais
sont maitres de la Riviere ; ils n'ont qu'a faire
une descente du cote ou la ville est sans de-
fense, sans fortifications; ils sont en etat de
nous presenter la bataille que je ne pourrai re-
fuser, et que je ne puis esperer de gagner. Le
General Wolf, s'il entend son metier, n'a qu'a
supporter notre premier feu, et s'avancer vive-
ment en faisant une decharge lente et generate,
mes Canadiens, sans discipline, n'entendant
point le son du tambour ni des autres instru-
ments militaires, excites encore au desordre par
le carnage ne sauront plus reprendre leurs rangs.
D'ailleurs ils n'ont point de bayonettes pour
resister a celles de l'ennemi, il ne leur reste
plus qu'a fuir, et je serai ainsi totalement de-
fait.

Telle est ma situation, la plus penible pour
un general et qui me fait, en verite, passer les
plus cruels moments. La connaissance que

1869.] LETTER FROM MARQUIS DE MONTCALM TO M. MOLE. 117

Copy of a Letter from the Marquis de Montcalm to Mons. de Mole, first
President in the Parliament of Paris.

Dear Cousin, — For more than three months has Mr. Wolfe been
hanging on my hands : he ceases not, night or day, to bombard Quebec
with a fury, of which an example can hardly be produced in any siege
of a place which the enemy wished to take and to preserve. They
have already destroyed, by their artillery, almost the whole of the
lower town ; and a great part of the upper is demolished by their
bombs: but, though they should leave not one stone upon another,
they will not be able to carry their point, while they content them-
selves with attacking us from the opposite shore, which we have aban-
doned to them from the moment of their landing. Yet, after three
months attempting it, they are no farther advanced in the siege, than
they were on the first day. The enemy ruins us, but not enriches
himself. The campaign cannot last above a month longer, on account
of the approach of autumn, which is terrible to a fleet in these seas ;
as the winds then blow, constantly and periodically, with a most vio-
lent and impetuous fury.

It should seem, then, that after such a happy prelude, the security
of the colony is not much in danger. Nothing, however, is less cer-
tain : the taking of Quebec depends on one masterly-stroke. The
English are masters of the river : they have only to effect a landing in
that part where the city is situated, unfortified and defenceless. They
are in a condition to give us battle, which I must not refuse, and which
I cannot hope to gain. General Wolfe, indeed, if he understands his
business, has only to receive our first fire, and then advancing briskly
on my army, and giving one heavy and general discharge, my Cana-
dians, undisciplined, deaf to the sound of the drum and other military
instruments, thrown likewise into disorder by the slaughter, would no
more return to their ranks. Besides, they have no bayonets to make
their ground good against those of the enemy ; nothing remains for
them but to run ; and thus I shall be totally defeated. Such is my
situation — a situation most grievous to a general, and which indeed
gives me many bitter moments. The confidence I have of this, has

118

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

[June,

tenir ju«qu"iei sur la defensive, qui m'a reussi ;
mais reussira-t-elle jusqu'a la fin? Les evene-
mens en decideront ! Mais une assurance que
je puis vous donner, c'est, que je ne survivrois
pas probablement a la perte de la colonie. II
est des situations oa il ne reste plus a un gene-
ral, que de perir avec honneur : je crois y etre ;
&, sur ce point, je crois que jamais la posterite
n'aura rien a reprocher a ma memoire ; mais
pi la Fortune decida ma vie, elle ne decidera pas
de mes sentimens — ils sont Francois, & ils le
seront, jusque dans le tombeau, si dans le tom-
beau on est encore quelque chose ! Je me con-
solerai du moins de ma defaite, & de la perte de
la colonie, par l'intime persuasion oa je suis,
que cette defaite vaudroit un jour a ma patrie
plus qu'une victoire, & que le vainqueur en
s'aggrandissant, trouveroit un tombeau dans
son aggrandissement meme.

Ce que j'avance ici, mon cher cousin, vous
paroitra un paradoxe ; mais un moment de re-
flexion politique, un coup d'ceil sur la situa-
tion des choses en Amerique, & la verite de
mon opinion, brillera dans tout son jour. Non,
mon cher cousin, les hommes n'obeissent qu'a
la force & a la necessite; c'est-a-dire, que
quand ils voyent armees devant leurs yeux, un
pouvoir toujours pret, & toujours suffisant, pour
les y contraindre, ou quand la chaine de leurs
besoins, leur en dicte la loi. Hors de la point de
joug pour eux, point l'obeissance, de leur part:
ils sont a eux; ils vivent libres, parcequ'ils
n'ont rien au dedans, rien au dehors, ne les
oblige a se depouiller de cette liberie, qui est
le plus bel appanage, le plus precieuse preroga-
tive de l'humanite. Voila hommes ! — & sur ce
point les Anglois, soit par education, soit par
sentiment, sont plus hommes que les autres.
La gene de la contrainte leur deplait plus qu'a
tout autre : il leur faut respirer un air libre &
degage; sans cela ils sont hors de leur ele-
ment. Mais si ce sont la les Anglois de l'Eu-
rope, c'est encore plus les Anglois de 1'Ame-
rique. Un grand partie de ces colons sont les
enfans de ces hommes qui s'expatrierent dans
ces temps de trouble, ou l'ancienne Angleterre,
en prove aux divisions, etoit attaquee dans ses
privileges & droits, & allerent chercher en
Amerique une terre, ou ils puissent vivre &
mourir libres, & presqu'independants ; & ces
enfans n'ont pas degenerees des sentimens re-
jublicains de leurs peres. D'autres sont des
hommes, ennemis de tout frein, de tout assu-
jettissement, que le gouvernement y a trans-
ports pour leurs crimes. D'autres, enfin, sont
un ramas de differentes nations de l'Europe,
qui tiennent tres peu a l'ancienne Angleterre
par le coeur & le sentiment. Tous, en general
ne se soucient gueres du roi ni du parlement
d'Angleterre.

j'en ai m'a toujours fait tenir sur la defensive,
qui m'a reussi jusqu'a ce moment : en sera-t-il
de meme jusqu'a la fin ? L'evenement le justi-
fiera. Soyez au moins certain d'une chose:
c'est qu'assurement je ne survivrai pas a la
perte de la colonie. II est des positions ou il ne
reste a un general qu'a mourir avec honneur.
C'est Ik ma faqon de voir. La posterite n'aura,
a cet egard, rien a reprocher a ma memoire.
La fortune, quoiqu'elle decide de ma vie, n'in-
fluera en rien sur ma fac,on de penser, qui est
celle d'un vrai Francjais, et qui sera de meme
jusques au tombeau, la si nous sommes encore
quelque chose, je me consolerai de ma defaite et
de la perte de la colonie par la ferme persuasion
que cette defaite sera un jour plus avantageuse
a ma patrie que la victoire, et que le conque-
rant, en l'aggrandissant trouvera son tombeau
dans le pays qu'il aura conquis sur nous.

Ce que je dis, mon cher cousin, vous semble
un paradoxe; mais une seule reflexion poli-
tique, un seul coup d'ceil sur l'etat actuel de
1' Amerique, et mon opinion est demon tree.
Les hommes, mon cher cousin, n'obeissent qu'a
la force et a la necessite. C'est a dire lorsqu'ils
voient devant eux des troupes toujours prettes
a les contenir, ou lorsque la chaine des besoins
les soumet a la loi ; hors de ce cas, ils secouent
le joug, ils n'agissent que pour eux: ils vivent
libres par ce que phisiquement ni moralement,
rien ne les oblige a contredire cette liberie,
l'ornement le plus aimable et la plus belle pre-
rogative de la nature humaine.

Observez le genre humain, et vous verrez les
Anglais sur ce point plus homme que les autres
peuples. Cette espece de contrainte leur deplait
plus qu'a tout autres ; ils doivent respirer un air
libre et sans bornes, sans quoi ils ne se trouvent
pas en leur element, si c'est la le genie des An
glais,en Europe, ce l'est bien plus en Amerique
Une grande partie de leurs colons sont les en
fants de ces hommes qui abandonnerent 1' Angle-
terre quand leurs droits et leurs privileges
furent attaques au milieu des dissentions qui la
bouleversaient ; ils vinrent en Amerique cher-
cher des terres ou ils pourraient vivre et mourir
libres et quasi independants. Ceux-ci n'ont pas
degenere des principes republicains de leurs
peres. D'autres, ennemis de toute contrainte
et de toute soumission, sont ceux que le gou-
vernement y a fait transporter pour leurs crimes ;
d'autres enfin sont un ramassis de differentes
nations de l'Europe dont le coeur n'est point
anime de grands sentiments pour 1' Angleterre.
Tous en general ont peu de respect pour le Roi
ou le parlement d'Angleterre. Je les connais

1869.] LETTER FROM MARQUIS DE MONTCALM TO M. MOLE. 119

induced me always to act on the defensive, which has hitherto suc-
ceeded ; but will it succeed in the end ? The event must decide. But
of one thing be certain, that I probably shall not survive the loss of
the colony. There are situations, in which it only remains to a gen-
eral to fall with honour : such this appears to me ; and on this head,
posterity shall not reproach my memory : though Fortune may decide
upon my life, she shall not decide on my opinions — they are truly
French, and shall be so even in the grave, if in the grave we are any
thing ! I shall at least console myself on my defeat, and on the loss
of the colony, by the full persuasion that this defeat will one day
serve my country more than a victory, and that the conqueror, in
aggrandizing himself will find his tomb the country he gains from us.

What I have here advanced, my dear cousin, will appear to you
paradoxical ; but a moment's political reflection, a single glance upon
the situation of affairs in America, and the truth of my opinion must
appear. No, my dear cousin ; it is to force and necessity only, that
men obey ; that is, when they see armies before their eyes, always
ready and sufficient to controul them, or when the chain of their neces-
sities reminds them of the law. Beyond this, they submit to no yoke ;
they act for themselves ; they live free, because nothing internal or
external obliges them to throw off that liberty, which is the most
lovely ornament, and the most valuable prerogative of human nature !
Search mankind ; and upon this principle the English, whether from
education or sentiment, are more men than others. This kind of con-
straint displeases them more than any other : they must breathe a free
and unconfined air, otherwise they would be out of their element. But
if this is the genius of the English of Europe, it is still more so with
those of America. A great part of these colonists are the children of
those men who emigrated from England when their rights and privi-
leges were attacked in that country, which was then torn by dissen-
sions ; they went in search of lands in America, where they could live
and die free, and almost independent : these children have not degen-
erated from the republican principles of their fathers. Others there
are, enemies to all restraint and submission, whom the government has
transported thither, for their crimes. Lastly, there are others, a col-
lection of the different nations of Europe, who hold very little regard
for England in their hearts and sentiments : all, in general, care very
little either for the king or parliament of England.

120

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

[June,

Je les connois <bien, non sur des rapports
etrangers, mais sur des informations & des
correspondances secrets, que j'ai moi-meme
menages, & dont un jour, si Dieu me prete
Tie, je pourrois faire usage a l'avantage de ma
patrie. Pour surcroit de bonheur pour eux,
tous ce8 colons sont parvenu dans un etat tres
florissant : ils sont nombreux & ricbes ; ils re-
cueillent, dans le sein de leur patrie, toutes les
necessites de la vie. L'ancienne Angleterre a
ete assez sotte, & assez dupe, pour leur laisser
etablir cbez eux les arts, les metiers, les manu-
factures ; c'est-a-dire, qu'elle leur a laisse bri-
ser la chaine de besoins, qui les lioit, qui les
attachoit a elle, & qui en fait dependans.
Aussi toutes ces colonies Angloises auroient,
depuis long temps, secoue le joug, chaque pro-
vince auroit forme une petite republique inde-
pendante, si la crainte de voir les Francois a
leur porte n'avoit ete un frein, qui les avoit
retenu. Maitres pour maitres ils ont prefere
leurs compatriotes aux etrangers, prenant ce-
pendant, pour maxime, de n'obeir que le moins
qu'ils pourroient ; mais que le Canada vinl; £.
etre conquis, & que les Canadiens & ces colons
ne fussent plus qu'un seul peuple, & le pre-
mier occasion, ou l'ancienne Angleterre sembls-
roit toucher a leurs interets, croiez-vous, mon
cber cousin, que ces colons obeiroient ? Et
qu'auroient-ils a craindre, en se revoltant?
L'ancienne Angleterre auroit-elle une armee de
cent ou de deux cens milles hommes a leur op-
poser dans cette distance ? II est vrai, qu'elle
est pourvue de vaisseaux, que les villes de
l'Amerique Septentrionale, qui sont d'ailleurs
en tres petit nombre, sont toutes ouvertes, sans
fortifications, sans citadelles, & que quelques
vaisseaux de guerre dans le port suffiroient
pour les contenir dans le devoir ; mais l'inte-
rieur du pays, qui forme un objet d'un bien
plus grande importance, qui iroit le conquerir
a-travers les rochers, les lacs, les rivieres, les
bois, les montagnes, qui le coupent par-tout, &
ou une poignee d'hommes connoissans le terrein,
suffiroit pour detruire de grands armees?
D'ailleurs, si ces colons venoient a gagner les
sauvages, & a les ranger de leur cote, les An-
glois, avec toutes leurs fiottes, seroient maitres
de la mer ; mais je ne serais s'ils en viendroient
jamais a debarquer. Ajoutez, que dans le cas
d'une revolte generate de la part de ces colo-
nies, toutes les puissances de l'Europe, enne-
mis secrettes & jalouses de la puissance de
1' Angleterre, leur aideroient d'abord sous main,
& avec le temps ouvertement, a secouer le joug.

bien, non par les rapports des etrangers, mais
par des instructions et des correspondances
secretes que je me suis menage et que je
ferai servir si Dieu prolonge mes jours a l'avan-
tage de ma patrie. Que manque-t-il a leur
bonheur les planteurs sont parvenus a un
etat florissant, ils sont nombreux et riches, ils
trouvent chez eux tout ce qui est necessaire a
la vie. L'Angleterre a ete assez peu prevo-
yante pour y laisser introduire les arts, le com-
merce et les manufactures, par ou elle les a mis
en etat de briser les chaines de la necessite qui
les contenaient, les liaient a elle, et les mettai-
ent sous sa dependance. Les Anglais des colo-
nies auraient depuis longtemps secoue le joug
si la crainte des Francais qu'ils voyent a leurs
portes ne les eut retenus. Maitre pour maitre,
ils aiment mieux etre soumis a leurs compatri-
otes qu'a des etrangers, en observant la maxime
de n'obeir que le moins possible. Mais quand
le Canada sera conquis, et que les Canadiens et
ce peuple n'en feront qu'un, a la premiere occa
sion ou 1 'Angleterre semblera toucher a leurs
interets, pensez-vous, mon cher cousin, que les
colonies veuillent obeir? et qu'auront-elles a
craindre d'une revolte ? l'Angleterre pourra-
t-elle envoyer a cette distance une armee de
cent ou deux cent mille hommes ? il est vrai
que sa flotte est formidable, que d'ailleurs les
villes du nord de l'Amerique Septentrionale sont
en petit nombre et sans citadelles ou fortifica-
tions, et qu'il suffit de peu de gens dans leurs
ports pour les contenir dans le devoir. Mais
la partie avancee dans les terres qui forme ua
objet de la plus grande importance, qui osera
entreprendre d'en faire la conquete, parmi les
rocs, les lacs, les forests, et les montagnes qui
la coupent partout dans tout les sens? et oh
une poignee de gens suffirait pour detruire la
plus grande armee ? Les planteurs attireront
les sauvages dans leurs interests. Les Anglais
avec leur flotte seront a la verite les maitres de
la mer, mais je doute qu'ils puissent jamais
faire une heureuse descente. Ajoutez que dans
le cas d'une revolte de quelqu'une de leurs colo-
nies, les autres puissances d'Europe, jalouses et
en secret ennemis de la Grande Bretagne, les
aideront, d'abord en cachette et ensuite pu-
bliquement, a secouer le joug. II faut que je

1869.] LETTER FROM MARQUIS DE MONTCALM TO M. MOlA 121

I know them well ; not from the reports of strangers, but from infor-
mation and secret correspondences, which I myself managed, and
which, if God spares my life, I will one day turn to the advantage of
my country. To add to their happiness, the planters have all arrived
at a very flourishing situation : they are numerous and rich ; they
centre in the bosom of their country, all the necessaries of life. Eng-
land has been so foolish and weak, as to suffer them to establish arts,
trades, and manufactures, and thereby enabled them to break the
chain of necessity which bound and attached them to her, and which
made them dependent. All the English colonies would long since
have shaken off the yoke, each province would have formed itself into
a little independent republic, if the fear of seeing the French at their
door had not been a check upon them. Master for master, they have
preferred their own countrymen to strangers, observing, however,
this maxim, to obey as little as possible : but when Canada shall be
conquered, and the Canadians and these colonies become one people,
on the first occasion, when England shall seem to strike at their in-
terest, do you believe, my dear cousin, that these colonies will obey ?
and what would they have to fear from a revolt ? Could England send
an army of an hundred or two hundred thousand men to oppose them
at such a distance ? It is true, she possesses a fleet, and the towns
of North America, besides being few in number, are all open, without
citadels or fortifications, and that a few men of war in their ports
would be sufficient to keep them to their duty ; but the interior part
of the country, which forms an object of much greater importance,
who would undertake to conquer it, over rocks, lakes, rivers, woods,
and mountains, which every where intersect it, and where a handful
of men, acquainted with the country, would be sufficient to destroy the
greatest armies ? Besides, should the planters be able to bring the
savages into their interests, the English, with all their fleets, would be
masters of the sea ; but I doubt whether they would ever make good
a landing. Add too, that in case of a general revolt, of any part of
these colonies, all the powers of Europe, secret and jealous enemies
of the power of England, would at first assist them privately, and then
openly, to throw off the yoke.

122

MASSACHUSETTS HISTOKICAL SOCIETY.

[June,

Je ne puis cependant pas dissimuler que l'an-
cienne Angleterre, avec un peu de bonne poli-
tique, pourroit toujours se reserver dans les
mains une ressource toujours prete pour mettre
a la raison ses anciennes colonies. Le Canada,
considere dans lui-meme, dans ses richesses,
dans ses forces, dans le nombre de ses habitans,
n'est rien en comparaison du conglobat des colo-
nies Angloises ; mais la valeur, l'industrie, la
fidelite de ses habitans, y supplie si bien, que
depuis plus d'un siecle ils se battent avec avan-
tage contre toutes ces colonies : dix Canadiens
sont suffisant contre cent colons Anglois. L'ex-
perience journaliere prouve ce fait. Si l'an-
cienne Angleterre, apres avoir conquis le Ca-
nada scavoit se l'attacher par la politique & les
bienfaits, & se le conserver a elle seule, si elle
le laissoit a sa religion, a ses loix, a son lan-
gage, a ses coutumes, a son ancien gouverne-
ment, le Canada, divise dans tous ces points
d'avec les autres colonies, formeroit toujours un
pais isole, qui n'enteroit jamais dans leurs in-
fcerets, ni dans leurs vue's, ne fut ce que par
principe de religion ; mais ce n'est pas la la po-
litique Britannique. Les Anglois font-ils une
conquete, il faut qu'ils changent la constitution
du pays, ils y portent leurs loix, leurs cou-
tumes, leurs facons de penser, leur religion
meme, qu'ils font adopter sous peine, au moins,
de privation des charges ; c'est-a-dire, de la pri-
vation de la qualite de citoyen. Persecution
plus sensible que celle des tourmens ; parce-
qu'elle attaque l'orgueil & l'ambition des
hommes, & que les tourmens n'attaquent que
la vie, que l'orgueil & l'ambition font souvent
mepriser. En mot, etes-vous vaincu, conquis
par les Anglois ? — il faut devenir Anglois !
Mais les Anglois ne devroient-ils pas com-
prendre, que les tetes des hommes ne sont pas
toutes des tetes Angloises, & sur-tout d'esprits ?
Ne devroient-ils pas sentir, que les loix doivent
etre relatives aux climats, aux moeurs des
peuples, & se varier, pour etre sage, avec la
diversite des circonstances ? Chaque pa} r s a ses
arbres, ses fruits, ses richesses particuliers :
vouloir n'y transporter que les arbres, que les
fruits d' Angleterre, seroit une ridicule impar-
donable. II est de meme des loix, qui doivent
s'adapter aux climats ; parceque les hommes
eux-memes tienne beaucoup des climats.

Mais c'est la une politique que les Anglois
n'entendent pas, ou plutot ils l'entendent bien,
car ils ont la reputation d'etre un peuple plus
pensant que les autres ; mais ils ne peuvent pas
adopter un tel systeme par le systeme manque
& defectueux de leurs constitutions. Sur ce
pied le Canada, pris une fois par lea Anglois,

le dise, avec un peu plus de prevoyance dans
sa politique, 1' Angleterre aurait toujours eu en
main, de quoi mettre les colons a la raison.
Le Canada, considere en lui meme pour ses
richesses, ses forces, et le nombre de ses habi-
tants n'est rien en comparaison du reste des
colonies anglaises ; mais la valeur, l'industrie, et
la fidelite de ses habitants supplee si bien au
nombre, que pendant plus d'un siecle, ils ont
combattu avec avantage, contre toutes les
autres colonies. Dix Canadiens valent autant
que cent colons Anglais. L'experience l'ap-
prend tout les jours. Si 1' Angleterre, apres la
conquete sait la maniere de se les attacher par
la politique et la bonte, et les garder pour elle
seule, si elle leur laisse leur religion, leurs cou-
tumes, leur langage, et leur gouvernement le
Canada separe sous tous les rapports, des autres
colonies, formera un pays distinct qui n'entrera
jamais dans leurs vues, ne fut-ce que par prin-
cipes de religion. Mais ce n'est point la maniere
des Anglais. S'ils en font la conquete, ils
changeront assurement la constitution du pays,
et y introduiront leurs lois, leurs coutumes,
leur maniere de penser, et leur religion ; ce qui
sera une double peine pour les vaincus. Enfin
ils les ecarteront de toutes les charges pu-
bliques, espece de privation des droits de cito-
yen, persecution plus sensible que les sup-
plices, parcequ'elle attaque l'orgueil et l'ambi-
tion des hommes; tandis que les supplices
attaquent seulement la vie que l'orgueil et
l'ambition nous font souvent mepriser. En un
mot, soyez conquis par Les anglais, vous serez
bien tot anglais. Mais ils devraient se souvenir
que tous les hommes n'ont pas la tete anglaise,
et qu'ils en ont encore moins l'esprit. Ne de-
vraient-ils pas s'apercevoir que les lois doivent
etre appropriees au climat et aux moeurs des
peuples, et qu'elles sont prudemment vari-
ces relativement aux diverses circonstances.
Chaque pays a ses arbres, ses fruits, et ses ri-
chesses particulieres. Vouloir transporter ail-
leurs les arbres et les fruits d' Angleterre serait
une folie inexcusable. II en est de meme de
leurs lois qui doivent etre adaptees au climat,
parceque les hommes tiennent eux-meme beau-
coup du climat. C'est la une espece de poli-
tique qu'ils n'entendent point, ou, a mieux
dire, qu'ils entendent tres bien ; car ils passent
pour le peuple le plus reflechi ; mais que l'im-
perfection de leur constitution les empeche
d'adapter.

En revenant au Canada: une fois pris pal
les Anglais, il souffrira beaucoup en peu d'an-

1869.] LETTER FROM MARQUIS DE MONTCALM TO M. MOLE. 123

I must however confess, that England, with a little good policy
might always keep in her hands a resource ready to bring her ancient
colonies to reason. Canada, considered in itself, in its riches, forces,
and number of inhabitants, is nothing to compare to the bulk of the
English colonies ; but the valour, industry, and fidelity of its inhabit-
ants, so well supply the place of numbers, that for more than an age,
they have fought with advantage against all the colonies : ten Cana-
dians are more than a match for an hundred English colonists. Daily
experience proves this to be fact. If England, after having conquered
Canada, knew how to attach it to her by policy and kindnesses, and to
reserve it to herself alone ; if she left them their religion, laws and
language, their customs and ancient form of government, Canada, sep-
arated in every respect from the other colonies, would always form a
distinct country, which would never enter into their views and inter-
ests, were it only from principles of religion ; but this is not the policy
of Britain. If the English make a conquest, they are sure to change
the constitution of the country, and introduce their own laws, customs,
modes of thinking, and even their religion, which they impose under
pain, at least, of disqualification to any public office ; that is, depriving
them of the rights of citizens. — A persecution more sensible than
that of torments ; because it attacks the pride and ambition of men,
while torments affect only the life, which pride and ambition often
make us despise. In a word, are you conquered, conquered by Eng-
lishmen ? — You must become Englishmen ! But ought not the
English to remember, that the heads of men are not all the heads of
Englishmen, and much less their minds ? Ought they not to perceive,
that the laws should be suitable to the climates and manners of the
people, and that they should be prudently varied, according to the dif-
ferent circumstances ? Each country has its peculiar trees, fruits and
riches; to transport the trees and fruits only of England thither
would be an unpardonable folly. It is the same with their laws, which
ought to be adapted to the climate ; because men themselves derive
much from climate.

This is a species of policy which the English do not understand, or
rather understand it well ; for they have the reputation of being a
more thinking people than others ; but they cannot adopt such a sys-
tem, on account of the imperfect and defective system of their own
constitutions. Upon this account, Canada, once taken by the English,

124

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

[June,

peu d'annees sufnroient pour le faire devenir
Anglois. Voila les Canadiens transformed en
politiques, en negocians, en hommes infatues
d'une pretendue liberte, qui chez la populace
tient souvent en Angleterre de la licence, & de
l'anarchie. Adieu, done, leur valeur, leur sim-
plicity, leur generosite, leur respect pour tout
ce qui est revetu de l'autorite, leur frugalite,
leur obeissance, & leur fidelite ; e'est-a-dire, ne
feroient bien-tot plus rien pour l'ancienne An-
gleterre, & qu'ils feroient peut-etre contre elle.
Je suis si sur de ce que j'ecris, que je ne don-
nerai pas dix ans apres la conquete de Canada
pour en voir l'accomplissement.

Voila ce que, comme Francois, me console au-
jourd'hui du danger eminent que court ma
patrie, de voir cette colonie perdue pour elle ;
mais, comme general, je n'en ferai pas moins
tous mes efforts pour le conserver. Le Roi,
mon maitre, me l'ordonne : il suffit. Vous
s^avez que nous sommes d'un sang, qui fut
toujours fidele a ses Rois ; & ce n'est pas a moi
a degenerer de la vertu de mes ancetres. Je
vous mande ces reflexions, a-fin que, si le sort
des armes en Europe nous obligeoit jamais a
plier & a subir a la loi, vous puissiez en faire
l'usage, que votre patriotisme vous inspirera.

J'ai l'honneur d'etre, mon cher cousin,
votre tres humble, &c.

Montcalm.

Du camp devant Quebec, 24 d'Aout, 1759.

nees pour devenir Anglais. Les Canadiens de-
viendront des politiques, des marchands, et des
hommes infatues d'une pretendue liberte qui
degenere souvent chez la populace anglaise en
licence et en anarchie. Alors plus de valeur,
de simplicity, de generosite et de respect pour
tout ce qui porte l'empreinte de l'autorite ;
plus de frugalite, de soumission et de fidelite.
Us vont etre bientot en discussion et divises
d'interet avec 1' Angleterre. J'en suis si assure
que je ne donne pour le voir pas plus de dix
ans apres la conquete du Canada.

Voila ce qui, en vrai francjais, me console du
danger imminent de perdre la colonie. Cepen-
dant je ferai comme general, tout ce qui sera
en moi pour la defendre. Le roi, mon maitre,
me l'ordonne ainsi ; et cela me suffit. Vous
savez que nous sommes d'un sang qui a tou-
jours ete fidele a son autorite, et je ne degene-
rai pas de cette vertu de mes ancetres. Je vous
envoie ces reflexions, afin que si jamais le sort
des armes nous obligeait a ceder et a recevoir
la loi, vous en fassiez usage de la maniere que
l'amour de la patrie vous fera paraitre le plus
avantageuse.

J'ai l'honneur d'etre, mon cher cousin, votre
cher cousin, votre tres-humble et tres-obeissant
serviteur,

Montcalm.

Du camp devant Quebec, 24 Aout, 1759.

[While the Publishing Committee were preparing these sev-
eral copies of the Montcalm letter for the press, a careful
comparison of the English and French copies, as published side
by side by Almon, was made, when it was soon perceived that
the English copy could not be regarded as a literal transla-
tion from that of the French. The same comparison was
made at the same time with the other French copy recently
obtained from the papers of the Marquis of Montcalm, and
with a similar result. The English copy, it was found, could not
have been translated from either of the French taken separate-
ly : sometimes it corresponds with one, and sometimes with the
other. The question then suggested itself to the editor of this

1869.] LETTER FROM MARQUIS DE MONTCALM TO M. MOLE. 125

would, in a few years suffer much from being forced to be English.
Thus would the Canadians be transformed into politicians, merchants,
and men infatuated with a pretended liberty, which, among the popu-
lace in England, sinks often into anarchy and licentiousness. Fare-
well then to their valour, simplicity, generosity, and respect to every
thing in the shape of authority ; farewell to their frugality, obedience
and fidelity : they would soon be of no use to England, and perhaps
they would oppose her. I am so clear in what I now assert, that I
would not give more than ten years after the conquest of Canada, to
see it accomplished.

See then what now consoles me, as a Frenchman, for the imminent
danger my country runs of losing this colony ; but, as a general, I
will do my best to preserve it. The King, my master, orders me to
do so : that is sufficient. You know we are of that blood, which was
always faithful to its kings, and it is not for me to degenerate from the
virtue of my ancestors. I send you these reflections with this view,
that if the fate of arms in Europe should ever oblige us to bend and
to receive the law, you may make use of them in such manner as the
love of your country shall direct you.

I have the honour to be, my dear cousin, your most humble, &c.

Montcalm.
Caup before Quebec, Aug. 24, 1759.

volume whether the English copy should not be regarded as the
original, and the French copies as two independent translations
from that. Such an hypothesis, of course, suggests another ;
namely, that the letter is a forgery. The importance, there-
fore, of ascertaining with certainty, whether the copy seen by
Mr. Parkman in the possession of the Marquis of Montcalm,
" on a small soiled sheet of paper," and which " seemed to be
the original draft" of the French letter, " with many erasures
and interlineations," was really or not in the handwriting of
General Montcalm, will be obvious to all. Mr. Parkman kindly
offered to write to the Marquis on the subject, and the printing
of the " Proceedings " was accordingly suspended in the mean

126 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

time. The following is the correspondence between Mr. Park-
man and the Marquis of Montcalm : —

(Translation.)

Boston, Sept. 10, 1869.

Monsieur le Marquis, — When I had the honor of meeting you
at Paris, I made mention of a book printed at London during the
American Revolutionary War, and containing three letters of your
illustrious ancestor. One of these letters is that in which he predicts
the revolt of the British- American provinces as likely to follow the fall
of Canada. There are two copies of this letter among the papers
which you had the goodness to place in my hands. One of them is
clearly written, but in a hand different from that of the other letters.
The other is written on a defaced sheet of paper, in a hand very small
and difficult to read, with many erasures and interlineations. It ap-
pears to be the first sketch of this famous letter. It is on this point
that I wish to gain definite information, and I write in order to inquire
whether or not it is in the handwriting of the celebrated Marquis.

I make this inquiry for the following reason : Since my return, I
have learned that the authenticity of this letter was seriously ques-
tioned at the time of its publication. It was said, in the British par-
liament, to have been forged for political reasons. To answer these
doubts, I produced the copy of the letter made in your house, before
the Massachusetts Historical Society. I was listened to with much
interest, and those present agreed that its authenticity was almost cer-
tain, since a copy of it was found among the family papers of its author.
But if the original itself were to be found there, the proof would b f
unanswerable. I therefore take the liberty of asking you if this?
the case, and I shall be greatly obliged to you for any further inforniu
tion which you can give me on the subject. I have compared the copy
made for me by M. Jeanne with the printed letter. The ideas are the
same, but the words are different throughout. As for the other letters
in the English publication, I found none of them among the papers in
your possession. They relate solely to the condition of the English
colonies in America.

Again thanking you for your extreme kindness, I beg you to accept
the assurance of the distinguished consideration with which I am, etc.,

Francis Parkman.

1869.] MARQUIS OF MONTCALM TO FRANCIS PARKMAN. 127

The Marquis of Montcalm to Mr. Parkman.*

My dear Sir, — On my return to Paris from a journey in Germany
I found your kind letter of August last. Let me at once ask a thou-
sand pardons for my long silence, which was caused entirely by my
absence from France.

It will be impossible for me to give you any real information as to
the genuineness of the letter attributed to my great-grandfather. The
only thing I can distinctly assert is that the copies found among my
papers are not in his handwriting. They were, I think, sent over from
England at the end of the last century, and then translated into
French. This will explain the discrepancy you have noticed. The
style, however, is that of my grandfather, concise, and a little jerky ; and
the personal sentiments expressed in the letter agree with those found
in his other correspondence. I am well aware that this is not enough
to establish the genuineness of the letter.

There is a tradition in my family that there exists somewhere in the
national archives of England, a large number of papers relating to
the Canada war, probably delivered to the English by a faithless
secretary after my ancestor's death. Is it not possible that among
them was the rough draft of the letter addressed to the First President

* This correspondence was conducted in French, on both sides. The following is the
original letter of the Marquis of Montcalm : —

C'est en revenant (Tun yoyage en Allemagne, Monsieur, que j'ai trouve a Paris votre aimable
lettre du mois d*Aout. Laissez-moi d'abord vous demander mille pardons de mon long silence, dont
la cause seule est mon eloignement de France.

II me sera difficile de tous donner un enseignement serieux sur l'authenticite de la lettre attri-
buee a mon arriere-grandpere ; ce que je peux uniquement affirmer c'est que les copies trouvees dans
mes papiers ne sont pas ecrites de sa main. Elles ont, je crois, ete envoyees d'Angleterre a la fin du
dernier siecle, et traduites alors en fran^ais, ce qui explique les differences de termes que tous avez
remarquees. pourtant le style a bien du rapport avec celui de mon grandpere, concis, un peu
saccade, et les sentiments personnels qui y sont exprimes sont d'accord avec ceux qu'on trouve dans le
reste de sa correspondance. Mais cela, je le comprends, ne suffit pas pour etablir une reelle
authenticity.

La tradition de ma famille est qu'il y a dans les archives nationales anglaises de nombreux papiers
relatifs a cette guerre du Canada, papiers qui auraient ete livres aux Anglais, a la mort de mon
ayeul, par un secretaire infidele. Ne serait-ce pas la qu : on aurait trouve le brouillon de cette lettre
adressee au Premier President Mole, ou meme la lettre elle-meme intercepted par quelque
croisiere anglaise ? En somme, je ne saurais, je le repete, Monsieur, lever les doutes que vous
pouvez avoir a ce sujet.

Je suis toujours heureux que cette circonstance me donne Toccasion de vous dire combien
j'ai ete charme des trop courtes relations que nous avons eues. J'espere que malgrela largeurde
I'Atlantique elles se renouvelleront encore, et que je pourrai de vive voix vous exprimer, Monsieur,
le3 sentiments de reelle sympathie et de haute consideration avec lesquels, je suis

Votre tres-humble et tres-obeissant serviteur,
Paris, le 2 Octobre, 1869. Moxtcalm

P. S. — Carlisle, dans l'histoire de Frederic le Grand, a donne la lettre en question, et il la cite en
Fran^ais ; a quelle source a-t-il puise le document ?

128 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

Mole, or even the letter itself, intercepted by some English cruiser ?
After all, I can only repeat that I cannot solve your doubts in the
matter.

I am very glad that this incident has given me a chance to say to
you that I have had much pleasure in our too short relations ; and to
express my hope that, notwithstanding the extent of ocean separating
us, they may at some time be renewed, and I may express in person
the sentiments of real sympathy and great consideration with which I am
Your very humble and obedient servant,

Montcalm.
Paris, 2d October, 1869.

P.S. — Carlyle in his History of Frederic the Great gives the letter
in question, and cites it in French. Whence did he get the docu-
ment ?

The result of this correspondence will not tend to strengthen
confidence in the genuineness of the letter in question, as it
appears that neither copy in the Marquis of Montcalm's pos-
session is in the handwriting of his distinguished ancestor ;
but both are copies of a later French version made from an
English copy, procured from England. If Almon's publication
were the source whence the letter in its English form was
procured and sent to France at the time mentioned by the
marquis, the question might be asked, why that which was
represented to be the French original published side by side
with it, and which we have reprinted above, did not accom-
pany it ?

May we not reasonably conclude that the letter attributed
to General Montcalm was written originally in English, and
£hat the general was not its author ? ]

Note. — There were present at this meeting fifty-one members. Before calling the
meeting to order, the members were grouped on the steps and the lawn in front of the
house, and were photographed by Black. — Eds.

18G9.] JULY MEETING. 129

JULY MEETING.

A stated monthly meeting of the Society was held this day,
Thuisday, the 8th of July, at eleven o'clock, a.m. ; the Presi-
dent in the chair.

The Recording Secretary read the record of the last meeting.

The Librarian announced the donations for the past month.
These included several volumes of the manuscript records of
the "New North Church," the " Central Universalist Church,"
(or, as it was subsequently called, the " First Restorationist
Church,") and the " Bulfinch-street Church," in the city of
Boston, — the last two named churches having been merged
in the " New North." They were presented by the pastor of
the " New North," the Rev. William R. Alger.

The Librarian also noticed the gift, from Mr. John Carter
Brown, of Providence, R.I., of the catalogue of his private
library ; prepared by Mr. John Russell Bartlett.

A number of volumes from the Historical Society of France,
and also from M. Desnoyers, its secretary, — previously an-
nounced as having been sent to the Society, — were placed
upon the table at this meeting.

The Rev. Barnas Sears, D.D., of Staunton, Va., was elected
a Corresponding Member.

The President called attention to a pamphlet of " Proceed-
ings " placed upon the table, embracing the transactions of
the Society at the April and May meetings. He stated that
the Standing Committee had recommended that the volumes
of " Proceedings " be now stereotyped, and issued in serial
parts, from time to time ; and that the members can have
their choice in taking the volumes, either to receive them in
parts as they may be issued, or to wait till an entire volume
appears.

The President presented a copy of the " Second Annual

130 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [July,

Report of the Trustees of the Peabody Museum of American
Archaeology and Ethnology," by the curator, Professor J.
Wyman.

Mr. J. C. Gray made some remarks relative to the discipline,
and mode of instruction, in Michigan University.

The President read a letter from Mrs. H. W. Bowen, dated
" Atchison, Kansas, June 4, 1869," and addressed to Dr. Pea-
body, of Harvard College, stating that the grandchildren of
General Arthur St. Clair are in possession of his papers, and
are desirous of disposing of them. They include letters from
all the signers of the Declaration of Independence, all the
generals of the army, and all the prominent men of that day.
Before the death of Mrs. St. Clair, thirty years ago, she de-
clined an offer of $3,000 for them. The present owners
have been offered for them a larger sum. The writer is desir-
ous of knowing their value.

The President stated that there had been sent to him re-
cently, from New London, Ct., by a relative of our late Corre-
sponding Member, Miss Caulkins, a manuscript poem, of some
length, written by that lady, and found among her papers since
her decease. It is entitled, " Cobwebs in the Sky, or Nell
McMudge : A Story of Country Witchcraft. By Frances Man-
waring Caulkins." The poem consists of one hundred and
twenty-one pages of letter-paper, and is divided into seven
cantos, each canto preceded by an " argument." In the pre-
face the author says : " The following tale combines in one
narrative various New-England traditions connected with the
witchcraft of former days. Almost every village, a hundred
years ago, had its reputed witch. The incidents in this story
are legendary, or copies of popular belief, — borrowed very little
from invention or imagination. They have been gathered
from floating sources, — the memories of the aged, or local
tradition, — and woven together as a faithful embodiment of
the superstition of former days. The ubiquitory power here
ascribed to the sorceress ; and the facility with which she could

1869.] LETTERS FROM J. VERNON TO J. WILLIAMSON. 131

change herself into other forms, or enter other creatures, soul
and body together, or leave her body and make excursions
without it, — are all in conformity with tradition," <fcc.

The President read some passages from the poem ; and Dr.
Holmes, who, at the request of the President, had read the
poem throughout, expressed the opinion that it had consider-
able merit as a rhythmical production, and that it embodied
many curious New-England traditions.

Mr. Frothingham, the Treasurer, stated that Mr. John A.
Lowell, the Trustee of the Lowell Institute, had paid to him
the sum of $703.41, — the balance due for the expense of
printing and binding seven hundred and fifty copies of the
volume of Historical Lectures, after deducting the $1,300 pre-
viously received from him for the delivery of these lectures.

Whereupon it was —

Voted, That the President be requested to make a suitable
acknowledgment to Mr. Lowell for this generous aid to the
Society ; and that six copies of the volume of " Historical
Lectures " be sent to him.

On motion of Mr. R. Frothingham, it was —

Voted, That the Librarian be requested to prepare an ab-
stract of the volumes of records of the " New North Church,"
which have been presented to the Society, — to be printed in
the " Proceedings."

The President read the following letters, from copies made
for him by Mr. Sainsbury, from the Public Record Office in
London : —

J. Vernon* to Joseph Williamson.

Hague 26 January 1671/2.
****** *

Mf Ellis & I were this day to see a House of the Prince's called
Honslaer Dyke, about 7 miles from hence; the way thither lyes

* This Mr. Vernon was afterwards Secretary of State in William and Mary's, and
Queen Anne's reigD. — Note by Mr. Salisbury.

132 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [July,

through a village called Loos-Duynen which is 3 miles from the
Hague and is famous for that in that Church lyes buried the Coun-
tesse of Henneberge, with her 365 children, which were all baptized
in two brasse bazins that they now show, and are placed over the
inscription which is in Dutch and Latin ; the same that your Worship
hath read in severall books that mention it. # Not far from the Church
they show a little round mount where the tradition is the Countess
her house stood, & was swallowed up by the Earth that rises in that
place ; thence we went to the Prince's house which is reckoned the
best in Holland. It was built by the Prince his Grandfather, but part
of the outhouses & some ponds have been added since ; the shape of
the house is like Luxembourg at Paris, but it is nothing near so bigg
and it is of bricke onely with some ornaments & trimming of stone-
worke ; the staire case is upon the model of Luxembourg, but here
they have remedyed the want of light & had it painted by severall
able masters ; the house is built in water that I beleeve the foun-
dations of it must bee very expensive, but Wee had nobody to informe
Our selves of but a Woman. All the first floore is Marble layd in
severall squares ; the Roomes are little enough for a Prince's house,
the furniture ordinary but some good gold leather ; the pictures many
of them deserved admiration. &° J. Vernon.

J. Vernon to Jos. Williamson.

2 February 1671/2.

Most Honoured S?

We came late to Harlem (in company with M* Watson, MT Parker
& Major Scot) that we saw but little of it unlesse it were the Fish
market, which is handsome & stands about the Church. The next
day we made haste for Amsterdam where we arrived in the morning,
it being but ten miles. Wee light at an English house where was
Sir John Paul, Mf Banks, M r Griffin of Hambrough and Sf George
Downing's son with his compagnions, who have been now a weeke
abroad. Wee went first to see a rarity of a man that broake glasses
with his breath, which he did severall Rhenish wine glasses though
held by an other with the strength of his mind he would make them
ring, tremble & breake what was particular sounding to one glasse he

• See further, relating to this strange story, in " Coryat's Crudities," vol. iii. pp. 81-
83, edition of 1776. — Eds.

1869.] LETTERS FROM J. VERNON TO J. WILLIAMSON. 133

said he found it was unequally made and then crying to it onely one
piece of it flew out, whereas those that were more equall flew into
shivers. The man himself is a lean ordinary man ; he was a rich
marchant & cracked, but now he sells wine & breaks glasses, and that
they say hath made him whole again. He is otherwise ingenious, and
whereas in Taverns here there are bells hung to call the people, here
the pulling of the roap makes a noise imitating the cry of some Fowle.
Hence we went to see a table of marble inlayd with Mother of pearle
representing severall flowers & insects in the naturall Col ? 3 which
charged to admiration, being looked upon in severall places ; the fel-
low of it was sent as a present to the King of Japan & cost 6000 11
sterlin ; the Workeman hath been 30 years about them without inter-
mission. Next Wee saw the great terrestriall globe all of Copper of
6 foot Diameter which is not to bee sold under 1500 pounds sterlin.
Wee past by Tryps house the great Marchant here which cost him
12000 pounds before he brought it above ground. The next day We
were to see the Admiralty where one enters with an Order. We
w r ere carried through all the chambers of the Stores which have theer
particular places assigned them, the sailes here, the ropes there, balls
in another place, every thing in its order that it needs but open a
doore in every chamber to throw every ships tackle into it, and in
case of fire they can turne Cocks which will lett them in 1600 tun of
water which is allways reserved on the top of the house for that use.
The East India store house is near this, but Wee had not time to see
both. Wee tooke a Boat & rowd round their men of warr which ly
there to the number of 50, but most small ones ; there was allso of
their great ones the Lyon, the Elephant, the Looking glasse & c .
The Swiftsure lay here single, her backe is not broken but is as fitt
to saile as any of the rest ; the Lanterne of the Royall Charles is
kept in the Admiralty house. Thence we went to see Admirall de
Ruyter who lives there upon the Quay in a pretty house ; he received
us courteously and made us tast a glasse of Navarre wine a present
lately made him by the Count de Guiche, he spoke all English and
not ill. He told us hee was one of the oldest living that had been in
the West Indies, where he was when a Boy with the first that went
thither, and he is now 63 years old, yet he lookes very fresh coloured
& lusty under his years, he looks & is drest perfect Citizen like, in
a plaine velvet coat. Wee stayd but little with him, for it was the
morning; he had invited us for the afternoone, but we were to be gone.
Going from thence Wee saw Collonell SpeUman, he that conquered

134 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [July,

the Kingdom of Macassar, he is about 50 years old, a tall lusty man
with a good bold looke. I saw some hospitals which are in all to
the number of 50, for men women & children, that the Charity of
Amsterdam is reckoned by some to equall the charity of the greatest
part of France; for besides these publique houses which are well
endowed, it is ordinary for great marchants upon the safe arrivall of
their vessells to give two or 300 pounds to the poors purse. I saw the
Exchange, their Bedlam, Spinhouse, Rasphouse & Stadthouse, which
is to noble to bee attempted to bee described. My time was but short
for these Gentlemens occasions called them to the Hague, so we left
Amsterdam that Monday & came to Harlem the same night ; the
next morning Wee had just time to see the Stadthouse where are all
the Earls of Holland painted, & the Earle of Hollands house, an old
building where is some rare pieces of painting ; above all one foot of
a man which the Prince of Toscany ofFred 1500 pistols to cutt out from
the piece ; in the garden is the picture of him that they pretend to
have invented printing first, one Maurice Castoreus, a gentleman
of Haarlem in the year 1440. I saluted Mons 1 * Casteline the Gazet-
teer here from yoT Wor sp who is full of all estime & respect for yoF
Wor sp . Wee left Haarlem that morning, wee past by those fields that
are so famous for whitening of linnen, whether send all theirs, that all
the summer time there bee many thousand Acres all covered, & here is
a great wood which is the nearest they have to Amsterdam for the
Citizens to come & divert themselves. Wee passed over the 3 great
sluces that divide the salt & sweet sea, & came to the Hague on tues-
day night. I shall in obedience to yof Wor p . s commands sett forward
for London on Saturday next. I hope to see Leyden & Roterdam
in the way. I am, most Honoured S. r

Your Wor sp * most obedient & faithfull servant

J. Vernon.
Hague 2 Febr 72.

1869.] LETTER FROM CAPTAIN G. V. FOX. 135

AUGUST MEETING.

A stated monthly meeting of the Society was held this day,
Thursday, the 12th of August ; Vice-President Aspinwall, in
the absence of the President, in the chair.

The Eecording Secretary read the record of the last meeting.

In the absence of the Librarian, the donations for the past
month were announced by the Recording Secretary.

Among those especially noticed, was a copy of " The Official
Correspondence on the Claims of the United States in respect
to the ' Alabama,' " London, 1867, — presented by Mr. Adams.
In reference to this publication, Mr. Adams remarked that
it does not contain all the correspondence relating to the
" Alabama " in which he took part, as the date upon the title-
page of the volume would indicate. It was published by
Lord Russell in vindication of himself.

The thanks of the Society were presented to Mr. Adams
for the gift.

A copy of the original picture of the old house in Dock
Square, built in 1680, and a copy of Paul Revere's picture of
the Boston Massacre, were presented to the Society by Mr.
William H. Keith, of Charlestown, for which the thanks of
the Society were ordered.

Mr. Whitney read the following letter from Captain G. Y.
Fox, lately the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, addressed to
Mr. Winthrop : —

Lowell, Mass., July 10th, 1869.
Hon. Robert C. Winthrop,

President Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Mass.

Sir, — Mr. H. A. Whitney, a member of your Society, is kind
enough to inform me that it will be agreeable to yourself and asso-
ciates to receive for preservation a number of rebel flags, which have
been saved from those acquired during the rebellion by the navy under
the administration of Mr. Welles.

136 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Aug.

Accordingly I have sent to him, for presentation to the Massachu-
setts Historical Society, eight flags, numbered and described as fol-
lows : —

No. 1. The flag of Fort Walker, Hilton Head, Port Royal, South Carolina.
Captured by the naval forces under the command of Rear-Admiral S. F. Dupont,
Nov. 7, 1861.

No. 2. A flag found amongst the property abandoned after the above action.
It is supposed to be the State flag of South Carolina.

No. 3. The flag of Fort Henry, Tennessee River. Captured by the naval
forces under the command of Rear- Admiral A. H. Foote, Feb. 6, 1862.

No. 4. The flag of Fort St. Philip, Mississippi River. Captured after the
memorable forcing of the defences to New Orleans by the navy, under Admiral
D. G. Farragut, April 24, 1862.

No. 5. The new flag adopted by the rebels in 1863. Captured by a naval
force under the command of Commodore John Rodgers, June 17, 1863. An in-
teresting letter from that distinguished officer, describing the capture of the iron-
clad " Atlanta," is enclosed.

No. 6. The flag of the iron-clad " Tennessee." Captured by a naval force under
the command of Admiral D. G. Farragut, on the day of his successful entrance
into Mobile Bay, Aug. 5, 1864.

No. 7. The admiral's flag of the rebel Buchanan, who commanded the " Ten-
nessee " in the above action.

No. 8. The flag of Fort Caswell, left flying upon the flagstaff of that fort,
after its evacuation, consequent upon the capture of the defences of Cape Fear
River by the United-States forces, under the command of Vice-Admiral D. D.
Porter and Major- General A. H. Terry.

These are truly the flags which were forwarded to Washington,
with the official reports announcing the victories which are enumerated.
They were placed at my disposal by the Department, because it was
deemed unadvisable to preserve at the National Capitol the evidences
of internecine strife.

Most respectfully your obedient servant,

G. V. Fox.

The letter of Commodore John Rodgers, referred to, de-
scribing the capture of one of these flags (No. 5), under his
command, here follows : —

U. S. Navy Yard, Boston,
Commandant's Office, June 14th, 1869.

Sir, — It gives me much pleasure to repeat the history of the
Confederate flag in your possession, captured on board the " Atlanta."

The history of the flag is so connected with the performance of the
15-inch guns, which you introduced into the service, that to tell the
one involves some account of the other.

1869.] LETTER OF COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS. 137

The previous flag of the Confederacy had been the stars and bars ;
but a strong current of adversity had set against the fortunes over
which it waved, and the rebel government chose a new ensign.

I was told that this new flag was first hoisted in action on board
the iron-clad " Atlanta."

The monitor " Weehawken," under my command, was sent to War-
saw Sound by Admiral Dupont, to prevent the rebel iron-clad " At-
lanta " from getting to sea from Savannah by that passage. Subse-
quently the monitor " Nahant," Commander John Downes, was sent
to the same place, to reinforce the " Weehawken."

On June 17, 1863, it was reported to me at daylight that the
' ; Atlanta " was coming down the Wilmington river. I was incredu-
lous, not believing that she would venture to attack two monitors ; but
a glance through a spy-glass convinced me that it was true.

We were riding to the flood-tide, heading towards the sea, without
room to turn.

As before decided upon, in case an attack should be made while
thus situated, we slipped the " Weehawken's " cable, and steamed down
to a part of the channel which I had sounded and buoyed, in which
the monitors could turn with a single sweep of the helm.

The " Nahant " commenced rapidly heaving up her anchor. The
'• Weehawken " passed the " Nahant " in going down, turned, and
passed her in going up. The " Nahant " ran down necessarily to the
same widening of the channel, turned as we had done, and came gal-
lantly to our support. But her services were not needed. Captain
Downes withheld his fire until he should be close alongside, under the
impression that only then would his shot be effective. Before he
reached the position he so zealously sought, the terrible 15-inch gun
of the " Weehawken " had compelled the " Atlanta " to surrender.

At about three hundred yards from the " Atlanta," the " Wee-
hawken " fired a 15-inch cored shot, weighing three hundred and forty
pounds, with a charge of thirty pounds of powder.

I saw this shot strike on the side, and I saw splinters fly into the
air. I learned, after the action, that it had driven about two barrels
full of splinters of wood and iron into the vessel, these wounding
every man of a gun's crew stationed opposite. It made a hole through
the side, very ragged, but averaging six inches wide by three feet
long ; and it knocked down, by the mere concussion, some forty men,
who lay upon the deck stunned, and as though dead.

The crew could not know that those insensible men were not killed.

138 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Aug.

Surprised at the novel effect of the huge shot employed against them,
they ran below.

The next discharge was of two guns, the 11 and the 15-inch. The
shot from one of these, I thought from the 15-inch, struck the top of
the pilot-house, in which were four men, two pilots and two helmsmen.
It crushed down the heavy wrought iron bars ; and the four men fell
stunned and helpless upon the floor, thus preventing the trap-door
leading into the pilot-house from being raised, and thus cutting off
access to the steering gear.

There remained no means of directing the course of the " Atlanta " ;
and the crew had deserted their quarters. She surrendered.

The first shot had taken away from the crew the wish to fight ;
the second had cut off the means of escape.

The flag in your possession, which had flown so confidently over the
"Atlanta," was now hauled down, but was soon replaced by a smaller
one, — a piece of white, hurriedly cut out of the lowered ensign.

This white symbol, seen through smoke, looked blue ; and its char-
acter thus misunderstood, two more guns were fired ; but they had no
effect upon the action, since its result had been reached already.

The new flag had not changed the fortunes of the Confederacy.
So quickly had the terrible ordnance done its work, that the " Nahant "
had no opportunity of firing a shot.

Very truly yours,

John Rodgers.

Hon. G. V. Fox.

The thanks of the Society were voted to Captain Fox for
this valuable gift. The flags were exhibited in the room
during the meeting.

The Chairman spoke of the decease, since the last meeting,
of our associate, the Hon. William Brigham, and presented
from the Standing Committee the following resolutions : —

Resolved, That this Society has heard with deep regret of the death
of the Hon. William Brigham, and would here record their sense of
the great loss which the Society has sustained thereby.

Resolved, That the President be requested to appoint one from our
number to write the memoir of our late associate, for the " Pro-
ceedings."

1869.] COMMUNICATION FROM HON. JOHN G. PALFREY. 139

Mr. Waterston paid a fitting tribute to the character of
Mr. Brigham, and the resolutions were unanimously adopted.

The Recording Secretary read the following letter from the
President, in which mention is made of the death of Mr.
Brigham, and also of the decease of our Corresponding Mem-
ber, Mr. William Winthrop, late Consul at Malta : —

Stockbridge, 9th August, 1869.
Charles Deane, Esq., Secretary Massachusetts Historical Society.

My dear Sir, — As I had previously intimated, I find it impossible
for me to be at our Monthly Meeting on Thursday next.

I trust that some one or more of our associates will be prepared to
pay a just tribute to our valued friend, William Brigham. I would
name Dr. Bobbins, his classmate, for the customary memoir, if the
selection is left to me.

It is fit that I should announce, in a single word, the death of oar
Corresponding Member, William Winthrop, Esq., the late United-States
Consul at Malta. His repeated and valuable contributions to our
Library, of which still another is on the way, and a handsome bequest
to our funds, which will come to us after the expiration of one or two
lives, entitle him to be remembered among our benefactors. But I
must postpone all detailed notice of him until some future meeting.
Yours faithfully,

Eobert C. Winthrop.

Henry Martyn Dexter, D.D., was elected a Resident Member.
Mr. Deane laid before the meeting the following communi-
cations from the Hon. John G. Palfrey: —

Cambridge, 1869, Aug. 3.
My dear Mr. Deane, — You know that after the discomfiture of
the Stamp project, the Sons of Liberty used to celebrate the anniversary
of the enforced resignation of the distributor (Hutch, iii. 201). Pos-
sibly some future antiquary may like to inform himself as to the com-
position of the company which met for that purpose just a century
ago, and which, it may be presumed, celebrated not less hilariously be-
cause within a fortnight they had seen the last of Governor Bernard.
By placing the accompanying paper, if you think fit, in the Collections
of the Historical Society, will you provide for the satisfaction of such
a curiosity, should it arise ?

Faithfully, dear sir, your friend and servant,

John G. Palfrey.

140

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

[Aug.

An Alphabetical List of the Sons of Liberty who dined at Liberty Tree, Dorchestet

Aug. 14, 1769.*

Adams, Samuel
Adams, John, Esq.
Avery, John, Esq.
Avery, John, Jr.
Appleton, Nath.
Austin, Benj., Esq.
Austin, Samuel
Ayres, Joseph
Abbot, Samuel
Avis, Samuel

Brattle, Thos.
Bradford, John, Capt.
Bowes, Nicholas
Barber, Nath.
Bant, William
Boyer, Peter
Barrell, Joseph
Balch, Nath.
Blake, John, Capt.
Blanchard, Caleb
Brimmer, Martin
Brimmer, Hermon
Black, Andrew
Burt, Benjamin
Brigden, Zachary
Bowes, William
Bruce, Stephen
Bass, Moses Belcher
Bass, Henry
Boynton, Richard, Capt.
Breck, William
Barrett, Samuel
Bradford, Jos., Jr.
Brown, John
Baker, John
Brattle, Brig. General
Bowdoin, James, Hon.
Burdet, Benj.
Barnard, Benj.
Brackett, Joshua
Bell, William
Belcher, Sarson
Boardman, Win.
Boweyer, Dan.
Bowman, Rev. Dan.
Barrett, John, Esq.
Burbeck, William
Billings, Richard
Brown, Enoch
Binney, Capt.
Bryant, .lames
Bryant, John

Cushing, Mr. Speaker
Cooper, William
Cushing, John
Church, Benj.
Church, Benj., Jr.
Church, Edward
Cleverly, Stephen
Carnes, Edward
Cobb, Capt.
Collins, Ezra
Copely, John
Cudworth, Benj.
Cudworth, Nath.
Cheever, Wm. Downe
Colson, David
Colson, Adam
Cunningham, Major
Cunningham, James
Chardon, Peter, Esq.
Cranch, Richard
Cunningham, Jno.
Cazneau, Andrew, Esq.
Carter, James
Cattle, Wm., Esq., Carolina,
Crofts, Thomas
Cheever, Ezek., Jr., Esq.
Chase, Thomas
Cunningham, William
Crane, John
Clap, Ebenezer
Cox, Lemuel
Carnes, Joseph

Dana, Richard, Esq.
Dickinson, Mr., Brother to

the Farmer.
Dawes, Thomas, Capt.
Dennie, William
Davis, William
Deshon, Moses, Esq.
Dalton, James, Capt.
Dalton, Peter Roe
Davis, Edward
Dashwood, Capt.
Dorr, Ebenezer
Don-, Harbottle
Dean, John, Capt.
Davis, Caleb
Davis, Aaron
Davis, Robert
Danforth, Samuel, Dr.
Davis, Solomon
Dolbeare, Benj.

Dorrington, John, Capt.
Dickman, William
Doane, Elisha, Major

Erving, John, Hon.
Erving, George, Esq.
Edes, Benjamin
Edwards, John
Eliot, Deacon
Eliot, Joseph, Jr.
Edes, Thomas
Emmes, Samuel
Edwards, Alex.

Freeman, Jon., Capt.
Fleet, Thomas
Fleet, John
Foster, Deacon
Foster, Timothy
Foster, Bossenger
Foster, William
Fitch, Timothy
Flagg, Josiah
Fowle, William
Farmer, Paul

Greenleaf, William
Gore, John, Capt.
Gore, John, Jr.
Green, George
Gill, John
Gill, Moses
Grant, Samuel
Green, Francis
Gardner. Joseph, Dr.
Greenleaf, John
Gardner, John
Gridley, Col.
Green, Joshua
Green, Edward
Greenwood, Capt.
Griffiths, John
Gooding, Benj.
Griffen, Wm., Esq., of Vir-
ginia.
Green, John
Green, Joseph
Greenleaf, Oliver
Greenleaf, Stephen
Greene, Benj., Jr.

* This paper is in the handwriting of Col. William Palfrey, the grandfather of th(
Hon. J. G. Palfrey. — Eds.

1869.]

SONS OF LIBERTY WHO DINED AT DORCHESTER, 17G9.

141

Gray, William
Gwin, Capt, Newbury.
Gooding, Joseph
Gray, Lewis
Greaton, John
Green, Nath.

Gardner, Thomas, Member
for Cambridge.

Hancock, John, Esq.
Henshaw, Joshua, Esq.
Hopkins, Caleb, Capt.
Head. John
Heath, William, Capt.
Hill, Henry
Henshaw, Joseph
Henshaw, Joshua, Jr.
Henderson, Joseph
Hatch, Jabez
Homer, John, Capt.
Holmes, Benj. Mulbury
Holmes, Nath.
Hichborn, Thomas
Hichborn, Thomas, Jr.
Harris, Samuel
Henchman, Samuel

Har-kins, John
Henshaw, Andrew

Hamock, Charles
Hill, Alexander
Hill, John, Esq.

Holbrook, Samuel

How, Samuel

Houghton, John

Hickling, William

Hall, Joseph

Homes, William, Esq.

Henshaw, Daniel

Hinckley, John

Hunt, Mr., Schoolmaster.

Harris, Stephen

Harris, Stephen, Jr.

Hinckley, Ebenezer

Hoskins, William

Hill, Dr.

Hewes, Robert

Honeywell, Richard
. Horry, Thomas

I, J.

Jackson, Joseph, Esq.
Inches, Henderson
Jeffries, John, Dr.
Jan-is, Charles, Dr.
Johonnot, Francis
Jones, Deacon
Jarvis, Edward
Jackson, Joseph
Ingraham, Duncan
Jeffries, David, Esq.
Johonnot, Zechary, Esq.
Johonnot, Gabriel

Johonnot, Andrew
Jones, William
Ingersol, John
Jenkins, John

Kent, Benj., Esq.
Knox, Thomas
Knox, Thomas
Kennedy, William
Kneeland, Barth.

Langdon, John
Lucas, John
Lovell, James
Lasinby, Joseph
Langdon, John, Jr.
Langdon, Timothy
Leach, John
Laggett, Thomas
Loring, John
Loring, Caleb
Leverett, John, Capt.
Leverett, Thomas
Lowell, John

Mason, Jonathan
Marshall, Thomas, Colonel
Marston, John, Capt.
May, John
May, Ephraim
Malcom, Daniel, Capt.
Matchett, John, Capt.
Molineaux, William
May, Aaron
McDaniel, Jacob
Morton, Joseph
Morton, Dimond
McDaniel, Hugh
Miller, Charles
McLain, John

Noyes, Nathaniel

Otis, James, The Hon. jr.
Otis, Samuel Allyne
Otis, Joseph

Pemberton, Samuel, Esq.
Partridge, Samuel, Capt.
Pitts, John

Pitts, James, The Hon.
Pitts, William

Pitts, James Jr.
Palfrey, William
Prince, Job, Capt.
Parker, Daniel
Perkins, James, Jr.
Peck, Thomas Handasyd
Pattin, William, Capt.
Peirpont, Robert
Proctor, Edward
Proctor, Samuel
Pool, Fitch
Pulling, John, Jr.
Price, Thos. Maurice, Capt.
Pico, Joshua
Palmes, Richard
Pecker, James, Dr.
Price, Ezekiel
Proctor, John
Phillips, William, Esq.
Pierce, Isaac
Power, Mr., Carolina.
Pierce, Mr., Carolina.

Quincy, Samuel, Esq.
Quincy, Josiah

Ruddock, John, Esq.

Revere, Paul

Rand, Isaac, Dr.

Ray, Caleb

Richardson, James

Reid, Mr., Secretary to Gov.

Franklin, Jerseys.
Read, William, Esq.
Ruggles, Samuel
Robinson, Lemuel
Ratcliffe, Mr., Carolina.
Roberts, Peter

Swift, Samuel, Esq.
Sweetser, John, Jr.
Smith, John
Spear, Nathan
Spear, David
Salter, Richard
Savage, Habijah
Savage, John
Smith, William
Symmes, Eb., Capt.
Symmes, John
Spooner, William
Sharp, Gibbins
Scott, John
Simpson, Ebenezer
Snelling, Jona., Major
Sprague, John, Dr.
Spooner, George
Soley, John
Scollay, John, Esq.

142

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

[Aug.

Storey, Elisha, Dr.
Sellon, Samuel
Seaver, Ebenezer
Surcomb, Richard
Stanbridge, Henry
Scott, William
Searle, Samuel
Stoddard, Jonathan
Scott, James, Capt.

Trott, George
Trott, Jonathan
Turner, William
Thompson, Major
Trott, Samuel
Trott, Thomas
Turell, Joseph
Tyler, Joseph

Tyler, Roval, Hon.
Tyler, Thomas, Esq.
Tileston, Capt.
Thompson, James
Tuckerman, Edward
Tileston, John
Tileston, Thomas

Vose, Joseph
Vernon, Fortescue

Whitwell, Samuel
Welles, Arnold, Esq.
Waldo, Joseph
Wendell, John Mico
Wendell, Oliver

Welsh, John
Warren, Joseph, Dr.
Webb, Joseph
Walley, Thomas
Waldo, Daniel
Wyer, Robert, Capt.
Whitwell, William
Wheelwright, Job
Wheatly, Nath.
Waldo, John
Wendell, Jacob
Waters, Josiah, Capt.
White, Benjamin
Williams, Joseph, Colonel
White, William, Capt.

Young, Thomas, Dr.

355, — about 300 dined.

Mr. Waterston here introduced to the meeting Mr. William
H. Dall, who gave an interesting account of his explorations,
at the head of a scientific corps, among the Rocky Mountains,
embracing the " Alaskan Range.' ' He exhibited and pre-
sented to the Society a map from a drawing made at the
United-States Coast Survey Office, under his direction, from
his own surveys, which had been photographed from the
drawing.

The thanks of the Society were presented to Mr. Dall for
the map and for his interesting remarks.

Mr. Parkman exhibited copies from some interesting un-
published maps of the Mississippi, and the Western lakes and
rivers, made chiefly by the early Jesuit missionaries, recently
piocured in Paris.

On motion of Mr. R. Frothingham, it was —

Voted, That Mr. Parkman be requested to prepare a paper
on these maps for the Society's " Proceedings."

Mr. Parkman stated that he should be quite willing to pre-
pare an account of these maps, with fac-similes of them as
suggested ; but he was now engaged in publishing a work
which would embrace much of this material.

Mr. Waterston, as the chairman of a committee from the
Natural History Society, called the attention of the members

1869.] SEPTEMBER MEETING. 143

to the approaching celebration of the Centennial Anniversary
of the birth of Alexander von Humboldt, who was at the time
of his death an Honorary Member of the Society, and sug-
gested that those who thought of attending should secure seats
together at the Music Hall, where the address by Professor
Agassiz, was to be delivered.

SEPTEMBER MEETING.

A stated monthly meeting of the Society was held this day,
Thursday, September 9, at eleven o'clock, a.m. ; Vice-President
Aspixwall in the chair.

The record of the last meeting was read.

The Librarian read the list of donors to the Library for the
past month.

The Cabinet-keeper read a list of the donations to the
Cabinet for the past month. These included a pair of tongs
once owned by the family of Thomas Hutchinson; also a war-
club from the Sandwich Islands, brought thence by Captain
William Ballard, of Boston; given by his grandson, Mr.
William Ballard, of Brooklyn, N.Y., through Mr. John J. May,
of Boston.

The Corresponding Secretary read letters of acceptance
from M. Thiers, of Paris ; and from Mr. William S. Appleton
and the Rev. Henry M. Dexter, of Boston.

Mr. Davis spoke of the Montcalm letters which had been
the subject of a communication from Mr. Parkman at the
June meeting, in one of which appeared some remarkable
predictions of historical events in this country, of sufficient
importance to attract the attention of Mr. Carlyle in his
" History of Frederic the Great." Mr. Davis said that Car
lyle was mistaken in supposing, as he seemed to do, that

144 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

these predictions originated with Montcalm. They undoubtedly-
represented the common belief of all the French and many of
the English statesmen of that day. As early as 1748, accord-
ing to Bancroft, it was " announced by reasoning men in New
York that the conquest of Canada, by relieving the Northern
colonies from danger, would hasten their emancipation " ; and
this opinion was published in Europe by a Swedish traveller
who heard it that year in America. Similar opinions were
expressed during the negotiations which led to the peace of
1762, by Choiseul and Yergennes, by William Burke, by the
anonymous writer of a letter from a gentleman in Guadaloupe,
and by many others.

Mr. Deane presented to the Library, in the name of the
author, a book of 323 pages in the Spanish language, entitled
" Historia Secreta de la Mision del ciudadano Norte- Ameri-
gano Charles A. Washburn, cerca del Gobierno de la Republica
del Paraguay. Por el Ciudadano Americano, Traductor titular
(in partibus) de la misma Mision : Porter Cornelio Bliss, B.A."

Mr. Deane stated some of the circumstances, as commu-
nicated to him by Mr. Bliss, under which this fictitious narra-
tive was written by the latter in Paraguay, while in a state of
duress from the tyranny of Lopez.

OCTOBER MEETING.

The stated monthly meeting of the Society was held this
day, Thursday, October 15, by invitation of our associate, Mr.
Lawrence, and with the concurrence of the Standing Commit-
tee, at his house in " Longwood " ; the President, the Hon. R.
C. Winthrop, in the chair.

The Recording Secretary read the record of the previous
meeting.

1869.] DEATH OF REV. JOSEPH BARLOW FELT. 145

The Librarian read the list of donors to the Library.

The Corresponding Secretary read a letter of acceptance
from the Re v. Barnas Sears, D.D., of Staunton, Va.

Thomas B. Akins, Esq., of Halifax, N.S., and Pierre
Margry, of Paris, were elected Corresponding Members.

The President, referring to the death of the Rev. Joseph B.
Felt, spoke as follows : —

The Rev. Joseph Barlow Felt died at Salem, which was also
his birthplace, on the 8th of September last. He had been a
member of this Society for nearly forty years, having been
elected in 1830, and having become the second, in order of
election, on our living Resident roll. During this period, he
was a member of the Standing Committee for one year, a mem-
ber of the Committee of Publication for four successive vol-
umes of our Collections, and Librarian for fourteen years.
In all these relations he rendered the Society faithful and
valuable services. But his labors as an antiquarian and histo-
rian had a wider range. His Annals of Salem, his History of
Ipswich, Hamilton and Essex, his Ecclesiastical History of New
England, and his History of Massachusetts Currency, are im-
portant contributions to the work in which we are engaged,
and evince the greatest industry and the most careful research.
As a Commissioner, too, appointed by Governor Everett, for
arranging and classifying the ancient State papers, in the
archives of the Commonwealth, in which capacity he visited
England to procure duplicates or copies of papers, which were
missing from the files of the State, he performed a most labo-
rious and important work for illustrating and preserving the
history of Massachusetts. His Memoirs of Roger Conant,
Hugh Peters, of Francis Higginson, and of William S. Shaw,
his Customs of New England, and his Collections for the
American Statistical Association, furnish additional testimony
to his patient and painstaking pursuit of historical studies. Edu-
cated to the ministry, "he was for many years a devoted pastor
of Congregational Parishes at Sharon, and at Hamilton, in

146 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY [Oct.

Massachusetts, and had received the title of Doctor of Divinity.
His later years, however, were devoted to historical and liter-
ary labors, in recognition of which he received the degree
of Doctor of Laws from Dartmouth College, which he had
entered as a student in 1809.

Born on the 22d of December, in the year 1789, Dr. Felt
had almost completed his eightieth year, and death must have
been a welcome release to one whose Christian faith and up-
right life had given him so good a hope beyond the grave.

With the authority of the Standing Committee, I propose
the following Resolution : —

Resolved, That the Massachusetts Historical Society desire to enter
upon their records their deep sense of the valuable and faithful ser-
vices in the cause of New-England History of their late respected
Associate, Dr. Felt ; and that the President be requested to appoint
one of our number to prepare a memoir of him for our Proceedings.

The Resolution was unanimously adopted, and the Rev. Dr.
Dexter was appointed to prepare the customary memoir.

The President also spoke as follows concerning the decease
of our Corresponding Member, Mr. William Winthrop, of
Malta, which had been announced at the August meeting by
Vice-President Aspinwall : —

Absence from the State prevented me from being present at
either the August or September meetings of the Society. I
should otherwise have added a few words to the simple an-
nouncement which was made by my friend, Colonel Aspinwall,
of the death of one of our Corresponding Members, — Mr.
William Winthrop, late Consul of the United States at Malta.
Mr. Winthrop was a son of the late James Andrews, Esq., of
Boston. His mother, whose family name he had adopted,
was in lineal descent from John Winthrop, the Massachusetts
Governor, by Margaret Tyndal, the saintly wife who followed
him to America in 1631. He was a great-nephew of Judge
James Winthrop, one of the eight original founders of this
Society.

1869.] DEATH OF MR. WILLIAM WINTHR0P. 147

It was this latter consideration, not unmingled, as I have
reason to believe, with a kind regard for myself, which led
him to make the Society the object of such bounty as his not
very ample fortune allowed him to bestow. He has presented
to us, during the last ten or twelve years, about 350 printed
volumes, 230 volumes in manuscript, and 150 pamphlets.
Some of these books and pamphlets have reached us since his
death, it having been one of the last labors of his life — for
it was a labor, though a labor of love, in his enfeebled health —
to make up two parcels of books as a parting contribution to
our library.

But his regard for our welfare and our wants did not end
there. In his last will and testament, executed shortly before
his death, he charged his executors, after the death of his
wife and his brothers and sisters, to whom his estate was
primarily given, to pay to this Society the sum of three thou-
sand dollars, to be held in trust as a fund for binding the old
papers and pamphlets, — a fund which will come into our pos-
session at no very distant day, and which will be welcomed
by us all, whenever it comes, or by those who shall succeed to
our places, as a most important and useful addition to our
resources.

Mr. Winthrop was for nearly thirty-five years the Consul of
the United States at Malta, and in that capacity rendered
faithful service to his country, and displayed great kindness
and hospitality to Americans visiting that interesting island
of the Mediterranean. He had a strong taste for antiquarian
and historical pursuits, contributed frequently to the well-
known English periodical, entitled " Notes and Queries," and
edited more than one, I believe, of the Camden Society's
volumes. He died on the third day of July last, in the sixty-
first year of his age ; and his funeral obsequies were attended
by a great concourse of the local authorities, and of the friends
and acquaintances, to whom his many amiable qualities had
endeared him.

148 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

I venture to propose that the President be requested to
express to his afflicted widow the grateful sense we cannot
fail to cherish of his liberal benefactions to this Society, and
of the respect we entertain for his memory.

Whereupon it was voted, That the President be requested to
communicate to Mrs. Winthrop, the widow of our late Corre-
sponding Member, an expression of our condolence and ac-
knowledgment.

The President read the following communication from our
associate, Mr. Whitmore, relative to the Rev. John Hutchinson,
of England, with notices of other members of the family : —

Hon. Robert C. Winthrop.

Dear Sir, — Having observed that the death of one of our Corre-
sponding Members, the Rev. John Hutchinson, has not yet been
formally brought to the notice of the Society, I beg leave to com-
municate the few facts relative to his life which I have been able to
collect.

Mr. Hutchinson had a certain hereditary claim to membership here
as being the grandson of the famous historian. He insured it by his
exertions to give to the public the concluding volume of the History
of Massachusetts. As this Society was the main agent in bringing
about the renewal of friendly relations with the descendants of the
most distinguished Royalist of the Revolution, a brief recapitulation of
the steps will be given.

In 1814, the Society proposed to print Hubbard's History (see Coll.
2d ser. vol. ii. p. 283), and therefore applied to the descendants of Chief
Justice Peter Oliver in England for the use of a transcript made by
him. This application was refused by Dr. Peter Oliver in an injudicious
letter published in the Collections, 2d ser. vol. iii. pp. 288-9. At this
time, however, a communication was received from Elisha Hutchinson,
Esq.. son of Governor Hutchinson, and father of our late associate. In
1818, the Society passed a vote requesting the representatives of Gov
ernor Hutchinson to publish the third volume of his History of Massa-
chusetts Bay ; and in the preface to that book (London, 1828) will be
found copies of the letters sent to England by Charles Lowell, John Da-
vis, and Christopher Gore, Esquires, in aid of this request. At that time
Elisha Hutchinson was chosen a Corresponding Member of the Society,
his election being dated 27th April, 1820 ; but his advanced age prob-

1869.] COMMUNICATION FROM MR. WHITMORE. 149

ably prevented Mr. Hutchinson from taking any active measures
towards publishing the volume, and he died at Blurton Parsonage,
24th June, 1824, aged 80.

His son, the Rev. John Hutchinson, completed the work ; and the
third volume was published in London, by Murray, in 1828. The
publication was greatly facilitated by the exertions of our valued
associate, the Hon. James Savage, who "secured the private circu-
lation of five hundred copies of the volume in America," as the
editor acknowledged in his preface. (See a paper on " Hutchinson's
Historical Publications," in "Proceedings" for 1857, pp. 144-6.)

It would be superfluous to remark at length upon the value of this
continuation of Hutchinson's History. The enterprise of its editor
was one which entitled him to all the honors which this Society could
bestow. This work, however, was the only event in the life of our
late member which brought him in contact with the American public.
How useful and laborious he was in his chosen profession will be best
shown by the following memoir published in the " Gentleman's Maga-
zine " soon after his decease : —

" 1865, April 27th. Died at Blurton Parsonage, Staffordshire,
aged 71, the Rev. John Hutchinson, M.A., Incumbent of Blurton and
Canon of Lichfield. He was ordained and licensed to the Curacy of
Trentham in 1817 ; and from that date till his decease, a period of
forty-eight years, the parish of Trentham continued to be the scene
of his various and unremitting labors in behalf of the people under his
pastoral charge. When he entered upon the discharge of his duties as
Curate of Trentham, the only churches of the parish were the mother-
church of Trentham and the chapel of ease at Blurton. Hanford
Church was built in 1827 ; and this afforded, it is believed, the first
and only instance of the consecration of a church in North Staffordshire
for thirty-five years. The Church of the Holy Evangelists provided
for the inhabitants of the district of Normacot (a district assigned to
Blurton), and built at the sole cost of the late Duke of Sutherland,
was consecrated in 1847 ; and he was subsequently instrumental in pro-
curing the erection of seven others. He labored hard in the work of
church education ; and, as a Canon, he entered warmly into the restora-
tion of Lichfield Cathedral, the revision of its statutes, and the pro-
motion of the Diocesan Choral Union. He edited the third volume
of Governor Hutchinson's ' History of the Province of Massachusetts
Bay,' published by Murray in 1828."

It may be proper to add here a few notes relating to the descend-
ants of Gov. Hutchinson, by his wife Margaret Sanford. He had two

150 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

sons and one daughter, who married and left issue.* Of these, the
second son, Elisha Hutchinson, was a graduate of Harvard in 1762 ;
afterwards a merchant, and one of the obnoxious consignees of the
cargoes of tea sent to Boston. • He was a refugee, and passed the
remainder of his life in England. As already mentioned, he was a
Corresponding Member of this Society. He married Mary, daughter
of Col. George Watson, of Plymouth, Mass.,t by whom he had five
children. The only son who continued the line was the Rev. John
Hutchinson, Canon of Lichfield, who married, in 1836, Martha Oliver
Hutchinson, daughter of his first cousin, Rev. William Hutchinson.
The issue of this marriage were two daughters and one son: the
latter, John Rogers Hutchinson, was born in 1848.

Thomas Hutchinson, Jr., eldest son of the Governor, had three sons,
— Thomas, Andrew, and (Rev.) William. Of these, Thomas (third)
had Thomas, who d. s. p., and Frederick Oliver, who has a large
family. Andrew was the father of Young Bingham Hutchinson and
Peter Orlando Hutchinson, the latter of whom has recently written to
" Notes and Queries " in relation to the family papers in his possession.^
The Rev. William Hutchinson had sons, William P. H. and Henry S.,
and several grandsons. The family bids fair to continue for future
generations.

Mr. Denny, the Cabinet-keeper, announced as a gift to the
Cabinet, a framed photograph, finely finished in India ink, of
the members of the Society, taken in June last as they were
assembled at the house of the President in Brookline, — pre-
sented by the President.

Mr. Deane presented in the name of Miss M. Wheaton, of
Cambridge, daughter of the late Henry Wheaton, a small
cabinet picture, said to be a portrait of Benjamin Franklin.
It was presented to Mr. Wheaton as such, about the year
1845, in Bamberg, Bavaria, by the United-States Consul.

* William Sanford Hutchinson, third and youngest son of Governor Hutchinson,
was born at Milton, July 30, 1752 ; was graduated at Harvard College in 1770 ; embarked
for England with his father June 1, 1774, accompanied by Margaret, an unmarried daugh-
ter of Governor H. William died in 1780, only a few months before the death of his
father, — probably unmarried. — Eds.

f Mrs. Mary Hutchinson was the sister of Mrs. Martin Brimmer, and of the wife of
Sir Grenville Temple.

X Mr. Peter 0. Hutchinson published, in 1857, a pamphlet relating to his family,
from which I have taken the above items.

1569.] REMARKS OF MR. LAWRENCE. 151

The grateful acknowledgments of the Society were ordered
for the gift.

Mr. Lawrence made the following remarks : —

There are some reminiscences connected with this place
which will have an interest to this Society.

On this very spot, a portion of the Sewall farm, were en-
camped Colonel Prescott's regiment, and a regiment from
Rhode Island, from the time of the battle of Bunker Hill
until the evacuation of Boston, nine months afterward. They
built and garrisoned the large fortification overlooking Charles
River, a few rods to the north of this, which was partially
destroyed by the building of the Worcester Railroad, but
which remained in part for many years after this settlement
was formed in 1850.

The headquarters of Colonel Prescott were at the house of
Mr. Wolcott, a son-in-law of Mr. Henry Sewall, now occupied
by Mr. Charles Stearns, half a mile west of this, on Beacon
Street, distinguished by its large elms. All around here have
been found the traces of this occupation, especially in the
grove on the north side of the house.

The Sewall farm belonged, in 1T39, to Samuel Sewall, who
was the son of Chief- Justice Samuel Sewall. Henry, who
was the owner in 1775, adhered to the Royal cause and left
Boston. His estate was confiscated and lost to his family,
except a portion which was recovered by his daughter after
the war. In the garden are the signs of ancient cultivation ;
and especially noticeable are two pear-trees of a remarkable
size.

This neighboring fortification was one of the line of redoubts
which surrounded Boston during the siege. The next one
on the north-east is on the opposite side of the river, in Cam-
bridge, and is still perfect. The next, on the other side, could
be seen until a few years since, east of Muddy Creek, in what
is now called Appleton Place, in Roxbi^ry.

L52 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

After the war, Colonel Prescott came with his son, William
(afterward Judge), and visited Mr. Wolcott. At that time
the father pointed out the objects which most interested him in
this vicinity and at Bunker Hill, to his son. Many years
after, the Judge pointed them out to Mr. Ebenezer Francis, the
owner of this estate (himself the son of an officer who was
killed at Lake George) ; and he gave the same information to
me in 1849. It was the more interesting to me because my
grandfather, living in Groton, was a devoted neighbor of
Colonel Prescott, and was serving here as his adjutant in
1775.

The President presented a printed copy of a letter of the
Jesuit missionary, Father Gabriel Druillettes, addressed to
John Winthrop, Governor of Connecticut, in January, 1651,
while Druillettes was on a visit to Boston and its neighbor-
hood. For an account of his visit, see " Proceedings " for
June, 1855, p. 33, and " Collections of the New York Histor-
ical Society," Second Series, Vol. III., part 1, p. 314. The let-
ter, which was written in Latin, was discovered among the family
papers of the President, and is printed by Joel Munsell, of
Albany, with an introduction in French, by John G. Shea,
LL.D., of New York. The President also presented the origi-
nal manuscript to the Society. The following English trans-
lation of the letter was read by him to the meeting.

To the Illustrious Sir John Winthrop, Esquire,

At Pequott River.

Excellent Sir, by me much to be respected,

Since the deep snow of winter now at hand will prevent my having
the privilege of waiting upon you, and setting forth at greater length
how much is expected from your singular goodness of heart by the
very honorable Governor of New France, in Canada, near Quebec,
who has appointed me his ambassador to all the magistrates in your
New England : I come into your presence by these letters, beg-
ging and beseeching you, by that tutelar deity of greatest good-will
towards all, especially towards our New France, which Master Win-

1869.] LETTER OP FATHER DRUILLETTES. 153

throp, of happiest and kindliest memory among all men, left surviving
in you as his only heir, not to refuse your patronage to the cause
which has brought me to these shores. For, indeed, it is a cause
which your father, of sweetest memory, undertook, in the year 1647,
by letters which he gave in . the name of your Commonwealth to our
Lord the Governor of New France at Quebec ; and which he would
long since have accomplished, as I learn from many men of weight,
had not death prevented. The great and good God ordered thus, I
think, that we might be indebted to you for the happy issue of that
cause whose inception and beginning we owed to your father, whose
memory we shall always greatly cherish. I had explained more at
large this cause before the Governors in Boston and Plymouth, and
was expecting to undertake, with prayers of them all, a journey to the
country where you are now living ; and the troublous snows did not
so much stop me as the authority of many men of station to whom I
owe respect, who dissuaded me and recalled me from Plymouth to
Boston. Your kindness to foreigners, however uncivilized they might
be, gave me so much hope that my rudeness of speech (for I have
spent nine years among the savages, teaching in the forests, far from
intercourse with Europeans) would find no cause for fear of you.
Nay, I thought there was nothing I might not hope from your kind-
ness known among all men, and your wonderful operation of Piety and
Religion towards the Indian catechumens of Christian faith and pro-
fession ; verily they are beyond all other mortals that hundredth sheep,
wandering and lost in the desert, which alone, leaving the ninety and
nine, the Lord Jesus Christ seeks with great loving anxiety, that,
having found it, He may place it, rejoicing, on His shoulders (Luke xv.).
The man who burns with zeal for that same Lord Jesus Christ must,
in the tenderest embrace of his heart, enfold that hundredth sheep on
which alone the great Teacher, the Lord Jesus, seems to have spent
all His love. And your tender love to your — because Christ's —
beloved, the savage catechumens, makes me easily believe that this
my testimony by letters, however slight it may be, of a grateful mind
and of my trust in you, will not be unpleasing in your eyes : where-
fore, suffer me to implore by letter your Patronage, on which, I think,
almost all my hope after God must be rested, in the cause of our
Lord Jesus Christ, in the defence of the Christians against the Mo-
hawks ; who not only have been, for a long time, attacking the Chris-
tians in Canada, near Quebec, and most cruelly torturing them by
slow fire, in hatred of the Christian Faith, but now intend (with great

154 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

slaughter) to destroy my Kennebeck catechumens, living on the banks
of that river, because they have been (for many years) the allies of
the Canadian Christians. For this reason, our honorable Governor at
Quebec commands me to offer you, in his name, the most ample com-
merce and a large contribution to the expenses of the war, if he
obtains from New England some auxiliary force for the defence of the
Canadian Christians against the Mohawks, which he undertook a long
time since, and which, by a united effort, he desires, from his love for
the Indian Christians, to push forward in favor of the catechumens at
Kennebec, his allies, who are inhabitants of New England, and the
peculiar clients of the Plymouth colony.

Wherefore he hopes, that just as your Connecticut colony allayed
the fury of the Narragansetts in favor of your clients on the Pequot
river, the Mohigens, — so with equal justice the Plymouth colony will,
with the consent of the court they call the commissioners, undertake
war against the Mohawks, the cruel enemy of their clients at Ken-
nebec and their allies in Canada, the Christians at Quebec.

A friend, to whom I have for the purpose given a copy to be sent
to you, will add to my letter an abstract, translated from my very bar-
barous Latin into English, of my double embassy, in the name of our
Lord Governor of New France at Quebec, and, separately in the
name of the Indians, Christian catechumens at Kennebeck. There-
fore I add no more, but beg you by your kindness to the savages and
your famed love to the poor of Jesus Christ, to explain at length the
whole affair to your general court, which, I hear, is usually held in
Hartford, in the month of June, and to push it forward among your
own magistrates ; and to use your endeavors to commend a favor-
able decision to those two delegates of your colony whom you
call commissioners, when they go to the place where the commis-
sioners' court is held. Meanwhile, wherever on this earth the Lord
Jesus, who has appointed me to spend my life and meet my death in
teaching these savages, shall place me, I will live and die for your
whole family ; especially, excellent Sir, I am bound closely to you in
the Lord Jesus, for Whom, because I do it for His brethren the In-
dian Christians, I am acting as ambassador.

Gabriel Druillettes, S. J.,

Priest and Teacher in Kennebec.

1869.] NOVEMBER MEETING. 155

NOVEMBER MEETING.

A stated monthly meeting of the Society was held this day,
Thursday, November 11, at 11 o'clock, a.m. ; the President
in the chair.

The Recording Secretary read the record of the last
meeting.

The Librarian read the list of donors to the Library.

The Corresponding Secretary read a letter (dated May 15,
1869) from James W. Sever and Charles Faulkner, a com-
mittee of the New South Church, stating that at a meeting
of the proprietors of said Church the following votes were
unanimously passed : —

" Voted, That the Records of the New South Church and Society
be deposited with the Massachusetts Historical Society for safe-keep-
ing, subject to the order of the Proprietors.

" Voted, That the articles deposited under the corner-stone of the
New South Meeting-house, in Summer Street, be presented to the
Massachusetts Historical Society as a memorial of the New South
Church, on the condition that said articles be kept together in the
Cabinet of the Society, with a proper label indicating their character."

The Committee proceed to say, that, " in compliance with the above
votes, the committee specially authorized for this purpose herewith
send to the Massachusetts Historical Society, for deposit and safe-
keeping, four volumes of the Records of the Proprietors of the New
South Meeting-house, in Boston, from its organization July 14th,
1715, to June, 1850 ; also, five books connected with the Treasurer's
department, containing the valuation of pews, assessment of taxes, &c.
They also have the pleasure to present to the Historical Society the
silver-plate placed under the corner-stone of the church when rebuilt,
at the junction of Summer and Bedford Streets, in 1814; and regret
to add, that the quarter-eagle in gold, and the American silver and
copper coins, from a dollar down to half a cent, deposited by the Rev.
Mr. Thacher, together with the silver-plate, as appears by the Rec-
ords of the Society, were not delivered to the Committee by the persons
in charge of the demolition of the church."

156 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Nov.

Whereupon it was —

Voted, That the Corresponding Secretary be requested to
communicate to James W. Sever, Esq., Chairman of the Com-
mittee of the New South Church, the thanks of the Society
for the deposit of four volumes of the Records of the Proprie-
tors of the New South Meeting-house, and five books con-
nected with the Treasurer's department ; and also for the
donation of various articles deposited under the corner-stone
of the New South Meeting-house, — all which books and arti-
cles the Society gratefully accepts on the condition proposed
by the Proprietors.*

The President then spoke as follows : —

The ocean cable has informed us, gentlemen, within a few
days past, of the death of our great American philanthropist,
George Peabody ; and we have just learned, through the same
magic medium, that his funeral is to be solemnized to-morrow,
in Westminster Abbey, by order of the Queen.

Meantime, as you all know, the public journals of our city,
and of the whole country, have already recalled to remem-
brance — if, indeed, it could ever have been forgotten — the
whole story of his extraordinary life, from its humble origin
at Danvers, in our own Commonwealth of Massachusetts, on
the 18th of February, 1795, to its lamented close, in London,
on the evening of Thursday last, the 4th of November.

Nothing could well be added at this moment to these spon-
taneous attestations to his marvellous career and his matchless
munificence. Nothing, certainly, needs to be added for his
own fame. His all-sufficient and only sufficient commemo-
ration will be found in the noble institutions which he has
established or endowed in both hemispheres, and in the bless-
ings which will be breathed upon his name, generation after

* See " Proceedings " for May, 1868, p. 207, where is a record of the presentation of
the original records and papers of the New South Church, of which the above com-
munication is a modification. They are now " deposited" — Eds.

1869.] DEATH OF MR. GEORGE PEABODY. 157

generation to the end of time, from the grateful hearts of
those to whose welfare his exhaustless bounty will have minis-
tered.

I cannot trust myself to say more of him on this occasion,
when we are waiting to receive his precious remains, and to
accompany them to the spot selected by himself for their last
repose, amid the scenes of his birth and childhood, and near
to the graves of his father and mother. I may perhaps find
an opportunity, here or elsewhere, at some future day — when
I am less oppressed by the loss of one who had so honored
me of late by his closest confidence and friendship, and for
whom I must ever cherish so warm an affection — to offer a
more deliberate tribute to his memory. But I must be par-
doned for confining myself now to the simplest official an-
nouncement of the event to this Society, of which he was both
an honorary member and a munificent benefactor, that it may
be entered in due form upon our records, and that we may not
seem insensible to the close of a career — to the going down
of a sun — which has shed so pure, so brilliant, and so enduring
a radiance on the history, not only of our own Commonwealth
and country, but of the age in which we live.

Mr. Winthrop then submitted the following Resolution from
the Standing Committee : —

Resolved, That by the death of George Peabody this Society has
lost one of its most honored members and benefactors ; — a man who,
nobly preferring to dispense with his living hand the abundant fruits
of patient and sagacious industry, has laid up treasure in the hearts of
two great nations, and dying has bequeathed an inspiring example to
both ; — who has sought to heal the wounds of war and spread the
arts of peace ; to bring knowledge to the people and comfort to the
poor ; — who has planted establishments of science and resorts of
study ; — and whose republican simplicity was unshaken by the
applauses of the multitude and the attentions of the great.

The Resolution was seconded by the Hon. Charles Francis
Adams, who made some interesting statements respecting

158 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. TNov.

Mr. Peabody's charities in London. Ex-Governor Clifford and
Colonel Aspinwall also addressed the meeting, and the Reso-
lution was unanimously adopted.

The President was requested to forward a copy of the Reso-
lution to the family of Mr. Peabody.

The President read a letter from Mr. Secretary Fish, stating
that he had sent to the Society a number of maps, — being
photo-lithographic copies of the detailed maps of the North-
West Boundary, from Point Roberts to the Rocky Mountains,
between the United States and the British Possessions, under
the treaty of June 15, 1846, — Nos. 1-7.

The thanks of the Society were ordered for the gift.

Mr. Theodore Lyman, of Brookline, was elected a Resident
Member.

The President read an account of the stone image, called
the " Cardiff giant," said to have been recently discovered
at Cardiff, near Syracuse, N.Y., from the "Worcester Daily
Spy," written by our associate, the Hon. Stephen Salisbury,
of Worcester, which elicited remarks from Drs. Bigelow and
Green.

Mr. Appleton exhibited a number of engravings of pictures
of Hugh Peters, and a photograph of a painting of him, ex-
hibited last year at the South Kensington Museum, differing
from the common portraits of Peters.

A recently engraved copy of an early map of Boston by
Burgess, of date 1728, was presented by Mayor Shurtleff.

A new work, by our associate, Mr. Parkman, entitled " The
Discovery of the Great West," was presented by him.

1869.] DECEMBER MEETING. 159

DECEMBER MEETING.

A stated monthly meeting was held this day, Thursday, 9th
December, at 11 o'clock, a.m. ; the President, Mr. Winthrop,
in the chair.

The Recording Secretary read the record of the previous
meeting.

The Librarian read a list of the donors to the Library, which
included Mr. Savage, the senior member of the Society, in
whose name a number of valuable manuscripts and pamphlets
were presented by his daughter, Mrs. Rogers.

The Corresponding Secretary said he had received a letter
of acceptance from Mr. Theodore Lyman, who was present at
this meeting.

Mr. Edmund Quincy, of Dedham, was elected a Resident
Member.

A copy of a lithographic portrait of the late Mr. George
Peabody was presented by the publisher, Mr. A. Trochsler, of
Boston.

The President read the following memorandum from Mr.
Henry Gillman, of Detroit, presenting a number of interesting
relics to the Society : —

The following named relics appearing more in keeping with the
objects of the Historical Society, I have reserved them from among
those deposited at the Peabody Museum.

No. 9. A portion of the flag-staff of Old Fort Mackinac (Michili-
mackinac), on the south shore of the Straits of Mackinac. When the
writer in 1851 visited the site, so interesting from its historical associa-
tions, nothing remained on the bleak sandy point to denote the original
works, save a few shapeless mounds, and the remnants of the pickets
which once formed the sally-port, near which was the stump of the
flag-staff, projecting about two feet above ground. These last were fast
being undermined by the waters of the Straits which washed within a

160 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

few feet of them, and in stormy weather swept clear over them, so
that, in all probability, they have long since disappeared. The great
massacre occurred on June 4, 1763. The place has not been occupied,
since about ten years after that. See Schoolcraft's " N. A. Indians,"
with Mr. Henry's singular narrative, and other works.

No. 10. Stemless brass button with initials R. A., and figure 2 en-
closed by wreath ; found a few years ago on a lot near the site of the
old Fort at Detroit — now one of the most thickly settled parts of the
city. The initials no doubt denote Royal Artillery, and this button
probably dates back to the occupation of the British.

No. 28. Copy of map of " The Town and Fortifications of Detroit,
as they stood before the year 1796. T. Smith, 30 May, 1816 (Copy)."
This shows the town as it was in the time of the British occupation,
all standing within pickets, which was rendered necessary by the
Indians. Among other interesting details, it shows the position of the
river Savoyard, — a stream which then ran through the town, and was
large enough for the citizens and their wives to amuse themselves on
in their canoes of a summer evening ; but which has long since dis-
appeared through the march of improvement.

Henry Gillman.

December 6, 1869.

A new book, entitled the " Primeval World of Hebrew
Tradition," was presented by the author, our associate, Dr.
Hedge.

A memoir of the late Col. T. B. Lawrence was presented
by Mr. Abbott Lawrence, through the Librarian.

Mr. Adams exhibited, and afterwards presented to the So-
ciety, a manuscript, labelled " Tory Account of Whig Characters
before the War," dated London, 18th April, 1775. He read
some portions of the paper, which he thought, on the whole,
hardly came up to the dignity of an historical document.

The President presented a quantity of paper money of the
Colonial period.

The thanks of the Society were ordered for the various gifts
presented at this meeting.

The President made some remarks, and read a number of
communications relative to the recent alleged discovery of a

1869.] THE " CARDIFF GIANT " CONTROVERSY. 161

petrifaction or ancient statue, called the " Cardiff giant,"
among which was the following from the Rochester " Daily
Union " : —

THE CARDIFF GIANT A HUMBUG.

Prof. O. C. Marsh, who occupies the chair of Palaeontology in
Yale College, has lately examined the " Cardiff Giant," and the
'' Buffalo Courier " is permitted to publish a letter written from this city
by him to a friend containing his views thereon. From such a source
opinions are entitled to great weight on such a subject, and it must be
admitted that the testimony of Prof. Marsh finally settles the claim of
the monstrosity to be of antique origin. The following is the letter : —

Rochester, Nov. 24, 1869.

Dear , — I saw the " Cardiff Giant" last evening, and in accordance

with your request I will tell you what I think of it, although I can now only
give you my conclusions. The reasons for them would make a longer letter
than I have at present time to write.

By especial permission of the proprietors, I was allowed to make a more
careful examination of the statue than is permitted to most visitors, and a
very few minutes sufficed to satisfy me that my first suspicions in regard to
it were correct; viz., that it is of very recent origin, and a most decided
humbug.

The figure is cut from a block of gypsum, similar to that found in Onon-
daga county, and at other localities of the Salina formation in the State
further west.

The peculiar position of the body and limbs, which has occasioned so
much remark, was apparently determined in a great measure, by the form of
the block of stone, which was water-worn on at least three of its sides before
the sculptor began his work. These rough water-worn surfaces were not
entirely removed in cutting. Portions of them still remain on the sides of
the head, and on the limbs and feet, and have erroneously been regarded as
indicating for the work a high antiquity.

The tool-marks are still very distinct on different parts of the statue,
especially where they have not been obliterated by the imperfect polishing
which evidently completed the work. On the more prominent portions of
the figure these marks appear as small pointed depressions, but in the less
exposed places, where the polishing was more carelessly done, or omitted,
they are nearly as distinct and fresh as when first cut. In several places they
are very near or immediately surrounded by the water-worn surfaces (t. e.,
in the opening of the right ear) , and therefore are evidently of subsequent
formation.

Now, as gypsum is soluble in about four hundred parts of water, a very
short exposure of the statue in the locality at Cardiff would suffice to oblit-

162 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

erate all traces of tool-marks, and also to roughen the polished surfaces, but
these are both quite perfect, and hence the giant must have been very
recently buried where discovered.

Altogether, the work is well calculated to impose upon the general public ;
but I am surprised that any scientific observers should not have at once
detected the unmistakable evidence against its antiquity.

The President concurred substantially in these views of
Prof. Marsh ; but Mr. Salisbury, on the other hand, who had
also seen the statue, dissented from some of the positions
taken in this communication.

The President read the following letter from Mr. Henry-
Pickering, son of the late Octavius Pickering, placed in his
hands by our associate, the Hon. Charles W. Upham: —

Boston, April 9th, 1869.
Rev. Charles W. Upham, Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Dear Sir, — My father, as you already know, intended giving to
the Massachusetts Historical Society the bound volumes of Col.
Timothy Pickering's manuscript correspondence, and such of his un-
bound papers as should be thought proper to accompany them, — with
the exception of the first four volumes containing private and family
letters, — and a will was drawn in which was embodied the above be-
quest to the Society. My father did not live to execute this will, and
the property in the manuscripts and papers passed to me as his sole
heir.

It is my desire to carry out my father's intention by presenting to
the Society the books and papers now in your hands : it being under-
stood that they are to remain with you, or in the hands of such person
as shall carry on or complete the biography of Col. Pickering, as long
as may be necessary for that purpose.

Will you oblige me by laying this communication before the Society,

or asking their acceptance of the bound manuscripts and of such of

the unbound papers as you consider worthy of preservation for the

objects of the Society, in any way you think proper ; and when you

have finished your examination of them, and have no further use for

them, will you give them into the hands of the Society as their own

preperty ?

I am, Sir, yours very respectfully,

Henry Pickering.
Rev. Chas. W. Upham.

1869.] DECEMBER MEETING. 163

Voted, That the Society gratefully accept the papers presented
by Mr. Henry Pickering, and that they will take charge of them
when deposited in the Library.

The President announced a new number of the " Proceed-
ings," embracing the transactions for June, July, and August,
1869.

The President exhibited a manuscript, comprising notes of a
course of Lectures by Prof. John Winthrop of Harvard College,
taken by a student about the year 1740 ; and presented it to
our associate, Mr. Sibley, for Harvard College Library.

The President read a letter from our associate, Dr. Ellis,
making some suggestions relative to another course of lectures
to be delivered by members of the Society at some future
time.

The Librarian read a letter from Mr. N. Goodwin, of Fram-
ingham, explaining a passage in the journal of Mr. Samuel
Davis, published in a late number of the " Proceedings ".
In passing through Wethersfield, Conn., Mr. Davis says, he
saw Beadle's House and Shop, both of which were closed, as
no one would occupy them.* " Perhaps few if any persons
know," writes Mr. Goodwin, " the cause of this house and shop
being closed and avoided. Dr. Lazarus Le Baron, of Plymouth,
grandson of Dr. Francis Le Baron, returned from Barbados
after a residence of fifteen years there ; and, in 1756, October
14th, married for his second wife the widow of Ansell Lothrop,
— Mary (Thompson) Lothrop. At the time of her second
marriage, Mrs. Lothrop had one child, a daughter, Lydia
Lothrop. Soon afterwards the daughter was married to William
Beadle of Wethersfield, Conn., a merchant or trader of con-
siderable property. By her he had four children, all of whom
with his wife he murdered, then cut his own throat. Hence
arose the reluctance to occupy his house and shop."
Mr. Appleton exhibited a rare picture of Bunker Hill, pro-

* Ante, p. 14.

164 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

cured by him in New York. It was probably by an American
artist, and evidently taken soon after the battle of Bunker Hill.
It is inscribed as follows : " An Exact Yiew of The Late
Battle at Charlestown, June 17th, 1775," &c. By B. Romans.
It is from a copperplate, 16 1-2 by 11 inches, and colored by
hand.

The President announced that the Standing Committee had
accepted the invitation of our associate, Mr. Mason, for the
Society to meet at his house on Tuesday evening, the 21st
inst.

SPECIAL MEETING.

A social meeting of the Society was held at the house of Mr.
R. M. Mason, No. 1 Walnut Street, corner of Beacon Street,
on the evening of Tuesday, the 21st of December, at seven and
a half o'clock ; the President in the chair.

In his opening remarks, the President indulged in some
reminiscences relating to the house in which the Society were
assembled, it having once been the residence of his father, the
Hon- Thomas L. Winthrop, a former President of the Society.

The President read the following letter from our associate,
Mr. W. S. Appleton, noticing the death of a Corresponding
Member, Mr. John Bruce, F. S. A., of London.

Boston, Dec. 10, 1869.

Dear Mr. Winthrop, — Had I supposed that the death of our
Corresponding Member, John Bruce, F. S. A., would not have been
noticed at the meeting yesterday, I would have sent you an extract
from some English paper announcing it. He died on the 28th of
October, aged 67, and the following appeared in the " Illustrated Lon-
don News " for Nov. 13 ; the " Athenaeum " and " Notes and Queries "
have also printed memoirs : —

" John Bruce, Esq., F. S. A., an eminent antiquary, has just died,
aged sixty-seven. He was of a Scottish family, and passed some time

1869.] LETTERS READ BY THE PRESIDENT. 165

at the Grammar School of Aberdeen. He was originally brought up
to the law, but relinquished that profession about the year 1840. He
then devoted himself entirely to literature, taking especial interest in
mediaeval lore, and editing several works of historical importance,
amongst others, " Hayward's Annals of Elizabeth," " The Leycester
Correspondence," " Verney's Notes on the Long Parliament," " Letters
of Elizabeth and James VI.," and other productions of a similar
character. One of his most recent and important works was a " Cal-
endar of the State Papers," of the reign of Charles I. Mr. Bruce
contributed also to the " Edinburgh Review " and to the " Gentleman's
Magazine," of which latter periodical he was for some time editor, and
he took a leading part in the management of the Society of Antiqua-
ries, of which he was Treasurer and Vice-President. At the death of
Lord Aberdeen, he became, in succession to that nobleman, one of the
trustees of Sir John Soane's museum in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields." *

I will only add that he was, most deservedly, elected a Correspond-
ing Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society in June, 1867.

Yours very truly, Wm. S. Appleton.

The President read a letter from Dr. H. I. Bowditch, accom-
panying the letters and memorials relative to the late Dr.
Morton, and referred to in a former communication of Dr.
Bowditch to the Society. (See proceedings of the meeting for
January following.)

He also read a letter placed in his hands by the Recording
Secretary, from Mr. A James, of Halifax, N.S., dated Decem-
ber 3, 1869, and addressed to Mr. Edward Russell, of Boston,
in which the writer refers to a document in his possession that
he thinks should find a place in one of the public libraries of
the United States. The document is the " original notes, in
the handwriting of Mr. Mason, of the survey of Mason and
Dixon's Line, bound up with the original correspondence between
the Proprietors of Pennsylvania and Maryland, (Lord Balti-
more and Thomas Penn) ; the two Commissioners ; the Rev.

* An interesting letter of Mr. Bruce to the Vice-President of the Society of Anti-
quaries, prefixed to a " Defence of Sir Ferdinando Gorges against a Charge of having be-
trayed the Earl of Essex, written by Himself," is published in the Appendix to Folsom's
Catalogue of Original Documents relating to Maine; New York, 1858. — Eds.

166 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

Mr. Maskelyn, the celebrated astronomer ; and the public men
of the two provinces interested. " Mr. James expressed the
desire that the manuscript should come to the United States
rather than go to the British Museum, to which he had recently
intended to offer it.

No action was taken in reference to the communication of
Mr. James. Mr. Deane stated that he had written to Mr.
Russell (who had kindly forwarded to him Mr. James's letter),
and expressed the hope that the manuscript might be sent to
Boston for the inspection of the members ; the document re-
ferred to being the same which was seen by Mr. Porter C.
Bliss, while on a visit to Nova Scotia, in 1860, and noticed
in the proceedings of this Society for August, 1865, p. 441.

The President also read a letter from our associate, Dr. Ellis,
relating to another course of lectures by members of the So-
ciety. A number of subjects to be treated, and a list of persons
to be invited to lecture, were read to the meeting.

Dr. Ellis's letter was referred to a committee consisting of
Dr. Ellis, the Recording and Corresponding Secretaries.

Mr. Deane read a paper on " The Forms used in issuing
letters-patent by the Crown of England " ; with some re-
marks relating to the early history of the Massachusetts Char-
ter of 4th Charles I.

The Forms in Issuing Letters Patent by the Crown of England.

Of the original thirteen States of this Union, the larger part,
as we know, were settled under charters (Provincial, Pro-
prietary, or Municipal) from the Crown of England ; and it
should not be an uninteresting inquiry, to the student of our
history, as to the official forms which were used in issuing
these important documents. By these forms we see, that,
although the grants were made by the Sovereign, in virtue of his
prerogative, yet this exercise of his prerogative is surrounded
by important formalities ; in order that " no detriment or
injury may result to the property or persons of his Majesty's

1869.] FORMS USED IN ISSUING LETTERS-PATENT. 167

subjects, or to the rights and possessions of his Majesty's
crown ; according to the principle which may be traced to the
earliest periods of the English Constitution, that the preroga-
tives of the Sovereign are not to be exercised arbitrarily, or
without discretion, but legally, and for the general benefit of
the Commonwealth." *

During the first and second years of Queen Victoria's reign,
a law was passed, entitled " An act for keeping the Public
Records " ; pursuant to which arrangements were made by the
Master of the Rolls, for ascertaining the condition of the
records, scattered in various depositories in London, and
finally for bringing them together into one large department,
and arranging them for use. In this way large masses of
most valuable papers were collected from the Tower, the Rolls
Chapel, the Chapter House, Carlton Ride, the Rolls House, the
Remembrance House, Somerset House, Whitehall-yard, West-
minster Hall, and other places. The most of these have now
been consolidated with the Public Record Office in Fetter Lane.

Full reports were made to her Majesty, from time to time,
of the progress of the work, by the Deputy Keeper of the
Public Records, Sir Francis Palgrave, in which a most minute
account is given of the nature of the papers, and of their con-
dition. In his Second Report issued in 1841,f he also gives a
full description of the " Offices and Documents connected with
the Working of the Great Seal " ; showing " to your Majesty,"
to quote his own words, " that a large and very important portion
of the Records of the Common Law side of the Court of Chan-
cery is composed of the Enrolments of the documents which
pass your Majesty's Great Seal, or of the Dockets supplying
the place of Enrolments." " It therefore appeared expedient
to his Lordship, the Master of the Rolls, that the origin and

* Sir Francis Palgrave, in his Report cited below.

t Second Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records. (May 15, 1841.)
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty. London : Printed
by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street, for Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1841.

168 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

progress of all the several instruments which authorize the
affixing the Great Seal, as well as of all the documents under
the Great Seal, thus ultimately becoming Records of Chancery,
should be traced through their different constitutional stages
up to their source, the expressed or implied commands of the
Sovereign. And by his Lordship's direction I have attended
at the several offices and departments partially or wholly con-
nected with the working of the Great Seal hereinafter no-
ticed, and obtained the information now presented to your
Majesty. . . .

" The whole process of passing Letters-Patent under the
Great Seal is, however, very complicated, and differing accord-
ing to the nature of the documents. The subject will there-
fore be rendered more intelligible, by first submitting to your
Majesty a general view of the course or cycle of these docu-
ments ; which course, in the numerical majority of cases, that
is to say, in the cases for Patents for Inventions, Charters for
Incorporations, and other instruments of the like nature,
issued as of grace and favor, upon the application of your
Majesty's subjects, is the following : —

1. Petition addressed to the Crown, upon which is grounded the

2. Reference to the Law Officer or Officers by the \ ^ „ aj _ .

J (Secretary of State.

j of the Attorney and Solicitor General, or one of them,
^ ( and of the Privy Council, if required, as explained below.

4. Warrant under your Majesty's Sign Manual, which is the authority for

the

5. Bill (called the Queen's Bill) [or King's Bill, according as the Sover-

eign is a man or a woman] under your Majesty's Sign Manual ; which
is the authority for the

6. Bill of Privy Signet ; which is the authority for the

7. Writ of Privy Seal ; which, being the recipi of the Lord Chancellor,

is the authority for the

8. Patent under the Grand Seal." *

In some cases, instanced by the writer in his elaborate
Report, some of these stages are dispensed with. The process

* Palgrave's Report, p. 28.

1869.] FORMS USED IN ISSUING LETTERS-PATENT. 169

relating to Charters of Incorporation principally interests us
here, and I have drawn up from his Report as briefly as I could
(and in the language of the Report, where it is practicable)
a description of it. It is possible that this inquiry may throw
some light upon the Massachusetts charter, and upon some
of the questions which have been raised as to the intention of
the Crown in granting it. v

Charters of Municipal Incorporation, or affecting commer-
cial, colonial, or general interests, are obtained by petition
addressed to his Majesty in Council. The draft of the
proposed charter is annexed to the petition, or is transmitted
with it. The petition is then submitted to the King (or
Queen) in Council, who usually refers the same to the perma-
nent committee of the Lords of the Council, denominated the
Board of Trade and Plantations. There the expediency of
the application is discussed, and persons are heard who may
be opposed to the same. If the Board of Trade favor the appli-
cation, an order is made referring the draft officially to the
Attorney and Solicitor General for their joint opinion. Upon
the draft being returned by the Law Officers with a favorable
opinion, the Board usually report to his Majesty in Council
that it will be advisable that he should grant the charter. The
King commonly approves the same, and makes an order com-
manding one of the principal Secretaries of State for the
Colonial Department, to prepare a warrant* for the royal sig-
nature, directing the Attorney and Solicitor General to pre-
pare the Bill for passing the charter. f

The business of preparing the Bill, called the " King's Bill,"
for his Majesty's signature, is conducted in a permanent office
called the " Patent Bill Office," or, more commonly, the
" Patent Office " ; of which the chief officer, styled " Clerk

* The warrant is a mandate, under the King's sign-manual, and countersigned by
one of the principal officers of the Crown (Report, pp. 26, 27).
t Palgrave's Report, p. 29.

170 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

of the Patents to the Attorney and Solicitor General," is
appointed by those officials. The King's Bill contains the
whole form and settled draft of the King's charter, grant, or
patent, in the words in which it is to pass the Great Seal, with
the exceptions only of his Majesty's style at the beginning
and the testing clause at the end ; but with the addition, at the
foot, of the Docket, addressed to the King by the Attorney or
Solicitor General, and signed by one or both of them.* The
Bill is engrossed upon parchment, and two other copies are
made, also upon parchment, exactly of the same form and
size ; which copies become the original Bills of Privy Signet,
and Writs of Privy Seal, when afterward perfected by the
respective officers, f

The King's Bill, bearing the signature of his Majesty, is
then lodged in the Privy Signet Office, and the transcript upon
parchment being received also from the Patent Office, this
latter is collated, completed, and rendered a Bill of Privy Sig-
net by the Clerk, who subscribes and affixes the King's Signet
to the same, addresses it to the Lord Privy Seal, and forwards
it to his office. $

When the Privy Signet comes into the office of the Privy
Seal, the Keeper of the Records prepares the Bill or Writ of

* The Clerk of the Patents reads the draft carefully, and calls the attention of
the Attorney and Solicitor General to any matter which appears to him to require further
consideration. The signing of the Docket by the law officer or officers, is procured by
the Clerk of the Patents. The King's Bill, and the transcripts, are delivered to the party
or functionary by whom the same is to be passed, who takes the first to the office of the
Secretary of State for the Home Department, where the King's signature is obtained
to the King's Bill. " The transcripts in the same manner reach the Privy Signet and
Privy Seal offices, and, excepting in the addition of the formal parts, and the addition
of the needful signatures, no alteration is ever made in those transcripts" {Report,
p. 30).

f Palgrave's Report, p. 30.

| "The Documents retained by the clerk of the Privy Signet are the following: —
The Docket Books. These books contain copies of the Docket at the foot of the Queen's
[or King's] Bill, as the same is signed by your Majesty's law officer or officers They are
neatly entered, and continue in a regular series from the year 1584 to the present time,
forming about fifty volumes, written upon paper. They are carefully and fully
indexed by names and subject-matters" (Report, p. 33).

1869.] FORMS USED IN ISSUING LETTERS-PATENT. 171

Privy Seal, by adding the formal parts to the transcript of the
King's Bill, which he has received from the Patent Office ;
and he presents the same to the Lord Privy Seal in order
that the Privy Seal may be affixed thereto. The Seal is in the
custody of his Lordship, and is kept at his house. There
is one regular public Seal day every week.

The Writ of Privy Seal is then taken by the agent or mes-
senger of the private party or public department on whose
behalf it is issued, to one of the officers of the Chancery, the
Clerk of the Patents, by whom the Patent is to be made out.
"When the Writ of Privy Seal reaches the Lord Chancellor he
signs a memorandum called the Recipi at the foot of the same,
and this signature is the authority to his officers for preparing
the Letters-Patent, and affixing the Great Seal to the same.*

We here see that the document passes through four processes,
that it is repeated four times, before it reaches its final stage,
the Letters-Patent. So it would seem that the greatest care is
taken that nothing should be done surreptitiously.!

If the inquiry should now be made whether there is any
evidence that our charter of 4th Car. I. passed through all
these processes before coming at last to the Letters-Patent
which hang at the State House, I have only to refer to some
investigations made for me by Mr. Sainsbury in Her Majesty's
Public Record Office in London, for an affirmative answer. I
will quote only a few passages from his correspondence on this

* Palgrave's Report, p. 33.

f There is another process, that of enrolment, which may be briefly stated. " The
writ of Privy Seal is transmitted, by the officer who makes out the patents, to the Six
Clerks, who enroll the same, and who transmit the enrolment and writ to the Clerks of
the Petty Bag, who transmit the same to the Chapel of the Rolls " {Report, p. 26). The
parchment roll on which the Massachusetts charter is engrossed was examined by me
in the Public Record Office in London, in 1866. It is composed of strips of parchment
of about one foot in width and about two feet in length, the ends overlapping, and
firmly attached together by strings. A number of patents, having otherwise no connec-
tion with each other, are thus attached together, and wound into one large roll from
eight to ten inches in diameter. The words of the charter are merely engrossed upon
the parchment with no attestation.

172 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

subject. After going over in brief the same ground I have
just occupied more at length, Mr. Sainsbury says : —

" We have seen that the King's Bill or Sign-Manual, the Bill of
Privy Signet, the Writ of Privy Seal, and the Patent under the Great
Seal, are or should be exact copies one of the other. To prove this
in the present case [that is, in the case of the Massachusetts charter],
I have carefully collated these Documents and find that they really
are copies one of the other."

I have spoken of the " King's Bill," that which bears the
sign-manual of the king. There, we have seen, the charter
appears for the first time in its official form, and that is the
authority for every thing that follows. We have seen also
that the parchment on which the King's Bill is written,
has at the foot the addition of a memorandum called the
" Docket ", addressed to the king by the Attorney or Solicitor
General (sometimes by both jointly), explaining briefly to his
Majesty the nature of the instrument he is about to sign.
Concerning these Dockets, Mr. Sainsbury says : —

" According to the constitutional practice of England, the Sover-
eign never signs any legal instrument without a Docket being at-
tached explaining shortly the nature and contents of the Instrument to
be signed."

Mr. Sainsbury has sent me the Docket appended to the
King's Bill of the Massachusetts charter,* which is as fol-
lows : —

Sign Manuals.
Vol. x. No. 16.

May it please yoT most Excellent Ma" e

Whereas yof Ma*? 8 most deare and royall father did by his Ires
Patents in the 18? yeare of his raigne incorporate divers noblemen &
others by the name of y e . Councell for the planting of New Eng-
land in America and did thereby grant unto them all that part of
America w c ? lyeth betweene 40 degrees of Northerly latitude & 48

* The King's (or Queen's) signature is invariably at the head or top of grants and
letters. " In the case in point," says Mr. Sainsbury, " the signature is so very indistinct
that only a person who knew where it should be would detect it."

1869.] FORMS USED IN ISSUING LETTERS-PATENT. 173

inclusive w 1 ? 1 divers priviledges & ymmunities under a tenure in free
soccage & reservacon to y e . Crowne of y? fift part of yl gould & silver
oare to be found there W ! 1 said Councell have sithence by theire
Charter in March last granted a part of that Continent to S T . Henrie
Rosewell & others their heires & associates for ever w 1 ? all jurisdic-
cons rightes priviledges and comodities of the same.

This Bill conteineth yo! Ma 1 " confirmacon & Grant to y e . said S r
Henry Rosewell & his partners & their Associates & to their heires &
assignes for ever of y e . said part of New England in America w^ 1 the
like tenure in socage & reservacon of yl fift part of gould & silver
oare Incorporating them also by the name of the Governor & Com-
pany of the Mattachusetts Bay in New England in America w^ 1 such
clauses for y? electing of Governors & Officers here in England for
y e . said Company, and powers to make lawes & Ordinances for setling
yl Governement & Magistracye for y e . plantacon there * & w*! 1 such ex-
empcons from Customes & Imposicons & some [such ?] other privi-
ledges as were originallie granted to the Councell aforesaid & are
usuallie allowed to Corporacons in England.

And is done by direccon from the Lo. Keeper f upon yoT Ma fe . 8 pleas-
ure therein signified to his ~Lo p . by S* Raph Freeman.!

(Signed) Ri. Shilton§

Indorsed, — " 1628, Expedit apud Westm* Vicesimo septimo die Februarij Anno
Eegj Caroli quarto." || "p Woodward dep"

* This last clause refers to the following in the charter : The Company have power
" to make, ordain, and establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable orders, laws,
statutes and ordinances, directions and instructions, . . for the settling of the forms and
ceremonies of government and magistracy fit and necessary for the said plantation and the
inhabitants there," &c, &c. : in virtue of which the Form of Government for the Colony,
on page 177, was established. In the charter granted to the " Council for New England,"
established at Plymouth, the same power was given ; namely, " to make, ordain, and es-
tablish all manner of orders, laws, directions, instructions, forms, and ceremonies of
government and magistracy, fit and necessary for and concerning the government of the
said colony and plantation," &c.

t Sir Thomas Coventry was at this time Lord Keeper.

i Sir Ralph Freeman was " Auditor of Imprests."

§ Sir Richard Sheldon, who signs this Docket, was the Solicitor General. In the
Docket as printed by Chalmers, and in that in the Signet Book, it says, " subscribed by
Mr. Attorney General" ; which may be an inadvertence. Sir Robert Heath was at this
time Attorney General. He must have been consulted, with his colleague the Solicitor
General, when the application for the charter was before the Privy Council, and was also
officially concerned in drawing up the King's Bill.

|| The Writ of Privy Seal (Bundle 281, part 71) thus concludes: — "Given under our
Privy Seale at our Pallace of Westm r . the eight and twentieth day of Februarie in the
fourth year of Our Reigne." " Recipi 4 Martii 1628. r

174 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

To what has already been said I purpose to subjoin a few
remarks by way of applying it to some questions relating to
the Massachusetts charter.

That the intention of the Crown was to create a corporation
to reside in England would seem to be sufficiently clear. Such
is the interpretation given to the charter by the Attorney and
Solicitor General to whom the draft was referred by the Board
of Trade, for to this effect the Solicitor informs the royal
mind in the Docket we have just read. He tells his Majesty
that the charter he is about to sign contains provisions for the
electing of Governors and Officers here in England for the said
Company, and powers to make laws and ordinances for settling
the government and magistracy for the plantation there ; with
some [such ?] other privileges as were originally granted to the
Council for New England ; which Council, by name, had a
" local habitation" in England.

The Council of Plymouth had, on the 19th of March, in the
previous year, conveyed away so much of its territory as was
embraced within the boundaries described in the Massachusetts
charter. It also conveyed, so far as it legally could, all juris-
diction over that territory. But this latter amounted probably
to little more than an abandonment of the Council's jurisdic-
tion ; so that the Massachusetts charter appears to have been
intended to supply the place of the government thus withdrawn.
The king, in this grant, reconveyed to the new patentees of
this territory what had been before granted to the Council
of Plymouth. The Chief Justices, in 1677, held that the
Council of Plymouth, by its grant of 19th March, 1627-8,
must be presumed to have " deserted the government."

Chalmers, in his Political Annals, page 147, gives a Docket
of the Massachusetts charter, or a copy of it, as found in the
« Privy Seal Office." This varies a little in its language from
that to the King's Bill ; but they agree as to the point in
question.* " Incorporating them by the name of the Governor

* Mr. Sainsbury says that each clerk, in the different offices, makes his own memo-
randum or Docket of the papers that pass through his office.

I860.] FORMS USED IX ISSUING LETTERS-PATENT. 17o

and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in Xew England, in
America, with such other privileges * for electing Governors
and officers here in England for the said company, with such
privileges and immunities as were originally granted to the
said noblemen and others, and are usually allowed to corpo-
rations here in England." f

The significance of this language has either been overlooked
by some later writers, or there has been a misapprehension

* As corrected by the Signet Office books it should read, "with such clauses for the
electing of governors," &c.

f I give below a copy of the Docket printed by Chalmers, but corrected by Mr.
Sainsbnry, on comparing it with the entry in the Signet Book: the Dockets there
being usually the same as those in the Privy Seal Office. The heading to the
paper printed by Chalmers is "A copy of the Docquet of the grant to Sir Henry
Risewell and others, taken out of the Privy Seal Office at Whitehall." This, being in
quotation marks, shows that it -was a " copy." found by Chalmers among the New-
England Papers : and that he did not take it directly from the Docket Books, either ot
the Privy Signet Office, or the Privy Seal Office. The heading to Chalmers's copy, as
we hare seen, indicates that it was originally "taken out of the Privy Seal Office."
The variation in the two copies is immaterial. The memorandum to Chalmers's copy,
that "• their charter passed 4th March following," could not of course have been taken
from either of the above sources, but was a piece of information subsequently ingrafted
upon it.

We are told by Sir F. Palgrave that the Docket Books in charge of the Clerk of the
Privy Signet, contain copies of the Docket at the foot of the King's Bill. In the case
of the Docket copied below from that office, it will be seen to be rather an abridgment
or paraphrase of that appended to the Fung's Bill of the Massachusetts charter, as
printed in the text, rather than an exact copy of it. There is, however, a substantial
agreement in substance.

Docket from Chalmers's ' ; Political Annals." p. 147. corrected from the Docket Books in the
Signet Office, Vol. IX.

" A grant and confirmation unto Sir Henry Rosewell, his partners & their associ-
ates and * to their heirs and assigns for ever, of a part of America called New England
granted unto him by a Charter from divers noblemen and others, to whom the same
was granted by the late King James with a tenure in soccage and reservation of one
fifth t part of the gold and silver ore : Incorporating them by the name of the Governor
& Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England in America with such clauses
for the electing of governors + and officers here in England for the said Company; with
such other privileges and immunities as were originally granted to the said noblemen
& others and are usually allowed to corporations § in England. His Majesty's pleasure
signified by Sir Pvaphe Freeman upon the direction of the Lord Keeper of the Great
Seal of England;^" subscribed by Mr. Attorney General; procured by the Lord Viscount
Dorchester."

* Chalmers omits "and '. t Chalmers savs "third part".

£ Chalmers says u such other privileges for electing governors ".

{ Chalmensavs "here in England".

| Chalmers omits "the". J Chalme-s omits "of England".

176 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

as to the nature of the Docket in its connection with grants
of incorporation. A distinguished jurist, a member of this
Society, who has written an elaborate and acute analysis of the
Massachusetts charter, cites this Docket in Chalmers ; and
admits, that it " is explicit enough to show that there was an
intention when that minute was made, that the corporation
should have a local habitation in England." But he regards
this Docket as a mere " memorandum of the proceedings
of the Council, prior to the grant of the charter." " This
Docket," he proceeds, " taken in connection with the charter
itself, and other admitted facts, furnishes most plenary proof
that the intention thus appearing, was in fact changed when
the charter was afterwards drawn and authenticated " ; his
interpretation of the charter itself not coinciding with that
given by the writer of the Docket.* But these views, as has
been seen, are based upon a misapprehension of the nature of
the Docket in question ; which is simply the precis, or con-
tents, briefly set forth, of the charter already drawn, and
before the writer.

Having now seen what sort of a charter of incorporation the
sovereign intended to grant to the Massachusetts patentees, or
what his Solicitor-General informs him that he was granting,
let us now briefly inquire what the grantees themselves sup-
posed they were getting from his Majesty.

We find Cradock, the Governor, a few days after the passing
of the charter under the Great Seal, writing in the name of
the Company to Endicott, at Salem, under date of the 17th of
April, as follows : —

" Since your departure we have, for the further strengthening of our
grant from the Council at Plymouth, obtained a confirmation of it from
his Majesty by his letters patents under the broad seal of England ; by

* Joel Parker, LL.D., in his Lecture on " The First Charter, and the Early Religious
Legislation of Massachusetts ,? ; pp. 381, 382, of the volume of Lectures on the " Early
History of Massachusetts," published by this Society in 1869.

1869.] FORMS USED IN ISSUING LETTERS-PATENT. 177

which said letters patents we are incorporated into a body politic, with
ample power to govern and rule all his Majesty's subjects that reside
within the limits of our Plantation, as by the duplicate thereof, under
the broad seal, which we have delivered to Mr. Sharpe to be delivered
to you, doth fully appear." *

Endicott is further told that he is confirmed Governor of the
Plantation, and has a Council assigned to him in the Govern-
ment of the Colony there.

At a meeting of the General Court in London, on the 30th of
April, this Form of Government for the Colony was adopted :

" Whereas the King's most excellent Majesty hath been graciously
pleased to erect and establish us, by his letters patents under the great
seal of England, to be a body corporate, entitled The Governor and
Company of the Mattachusetts Bay in New England ; and thereby
hath endowed us with many large and ample privileges and immuni-
ties, w 7 ith power to make good and wholesome laws, orders, and ordi-
nances, for the better maintenance and support of the said privileges,
and for the better and more orderly and regular government to be
observed in the prosecution and propagation of our intended voyages
and the Plantation there ; authorizing us to nominate and appoint and
select fit persons amongst ourselves for the managing, ordering and
governing of our affairs, both in England and in the places specified
and granted unto us by virtue of his Majesty's said charter : We have,
in the prosecution of the said power and authority given us, and in
conformity thereunto, and to the purpose and intent thereof, and not
otherwise, thought fit to settle and establish an absolute government at
our Plantation in the said Mattachusetts Bay, in New-England ; which,
by the vote and consent of a full and ample Court now assembled, is
thought fit and ordered, as followeth, viz. :

" That thirteen of such as shall be reputed the most wise, honest,
expert, and discreet persons, resident upon the said Plantation, shall,
from time to time, and at all time hereafter, have the sole managing
and ordering of the government and of our affairs there ; who, to the
best of their judgments, are to endeavor so to settle the same as may
make most to the glory of God, the furtherance and advancement of
this hopeful Plantation, the comfort, encouragement, and future benefit
of us and others, the beginners and prosecutors of this so laudable a

* Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts, pn. 141, 142.
23

178 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

work ; the said thirteen persons so appointed to be entitled by the
name of The Governor and Council of London's Plantation in the
Mattachusetts Bay in New-England" *

On the 28th of May following, the Company, through Cradock,
again write to Endicott : —

" We have, sithence our last, and according as we then advised, at a
full and ample Court assembled, elected and established you, Captain
John Endicott, to the place of present Governor in our Plantation
there, as also some others to be of the Council with you, as more par-
ticularly you will perceive by an Act of Court herewith sent, confirmed
by us at a General Court, and sealed with our common seal ; to which
Act we refer you, desiring you all punctually to observe the same, and
that the Oaths we herewith send you, (which have been here penned by
learned counsel, to be administered to each of you in your several
places) may be administered in such manner and form as in and by
our said Order is particularly expressed ; and that yourselves do frame
such other Oaths as in your wisdoms you shall think fit to be admin-
istered to your Secretary or other officers, according to their several
places respectively." f

The form of the oaths, to be sent to New England to be
administered there, " were here penned," says Cradock, " by
learned counsel," — no less a person certainly than John Whyte
the counsellor, who is supposed to have drawn the charter itself.
A committee to frame the oaths had been appointed at a meeting
of the General Court on the 30th of April. They had been
prepared by the 7th of May, and were reported at a Court of
Assistants held that day. J At a Court of Assistants held on
the 21st of May, " Mr. Eaton took the oath of Assistant. And
he is desired to accompany Mr. Humphrey to Mr. Whyte the
counsellor, to be satisfied concerning the administering oaths
to the Governor and Council in New England." All the

* Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts, pp. 192, 193.
t Ibid. p. 173.

X See the form of the " Oaths of office for the Governor and Council" in New-Eng-
land, in Young, as above, pp. 201-203.

1869.] FORMS USED IN ISSUING LETTERS-PATENT. 179

" Orders concerning the establishment of the Governor and
Council in New England," were prepared at this meeting, and
confirmed at the meeting on the following day ; and the Gen
eral Letter to be sent to Endicott, bearing date the 28th of May
(from which the above extract is taken), was " concluded on."
They were despatched to him by vessels which sailed about the
end of this month.

These extracts from the Company's Records are familiar to
all students of our history ; but, familiar as they are, they are
too important to be omitted here.

While the charter incorporated these patentees as the " Gov-
ernor and Company of Mattachusetts Bay in New England,"
they, exercising their powers in London, establish a subordinate
government on the soil, under the name of " the Governor and
Council of London's Plantation in the Mattachusetts Bay in
New England " ; and all this they say they do by virtue of the
powers granted to them in their charter, John Whyte being
their legal adviser throughout.

By reference to the Company's Records it will be seen that
the business of the Company was vigorously prosecuted dur-
ing the months of March, April, May, June, and July, in view
of the settlement of the Colony agreeably to this interpretation
of the charter. We here see a perfect coincidence of opinion
between the Sovereign granting, and the patentees receiving ;
between the Solicitor of the Crown on the one hand, and the
legal counsel of the Company on the other.

About five months after the granting of the charter, at a
meeting of the General Court, on the 28th of July, —

" Mr. Governor read certain propositions conceived by himself, viz.
That for the advancement of the Plantation, the inducing and encour-
aging persons of worth and quality to transplant themselves and fami-
lies thither, and for other weighty reasons therein contained, [it is
proposed] to transfer the government of the Plantation to those that
shall inhabit there, and not to continue the same in subordination to
the Company here, as now it is."

180 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec

" This business," says the Record, " occasioned some debate" :

" But by reason of the many great and considerable consequences
thereupon depending, it was not now resolved upon, but those present
are desired privately and seriously to consider hereof, and to set
down their particular reasons in writing pro et contra, and to produce
the same at the next General Court ; where they being reduced to
heads and maturely considered of, the Company may then proceed to a
final resolution thereon. And in the mean time they are desired to
carry this business secretly, that the same be not divulged." *

This, if I mistake not, is the first time we hear of such a prop-
osition, which was to be regarded as strictly confidential. I
have looked in vain through those admirable volumes — the
" Life and Letters of John Winthrop" (of which I observe a new
edition, with additional letters, is just published) — for some
earlier intimation of such an intention. Although the proposi-
tion is said by the Record to have been conceived by Cradock
himself, we must believe that it was the result of a pre-
vious conference among leading persons of the Company, and
others who proposed conditionally to join it. The truth is, a
new element had been brought into their counsels. John
Winthrop was stretching his vision toward New England, and
other prominent persons were looking in the same direction ;
and in one month after Cradock' s proposition, their views had
been so far matured as to be embodied in the " Agreement at
Cambridge," of the 26th of August. Twelve prominent gen-
tlemen, including six who had been members of the Company
from the first, agreed on that day to embark for the Plantation
by the first of the following March ; provided , that before the
last of September, that is, before the expiration of four weeks,
" the whole Government, together with the patent for the said
plantation, be first, by an order of Court, legally transferred
and established to remain with us and others which shall in-
habit upon the said Plantation." f

* Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts, pp. 85, 86. f Ibid. pp. 281, 282.

1869.] FORMS USED IN ISSUING LETTERS-PATENT. 181

Two days after the signing of this agreement, a special
meeting of the General Court was called, —

"To give answer to divers gentlemen, intending to go into New Eng-
land, whether or no the chief government of the Plantation, together
with the patent, should be settled in New England, or here. Where-
upon it was ordered, that this afternoon Mr. Wright, Mr. Eaton, Mr
Adams, Mr. Spurstowe, and such others as they should think fit to call
unto them, whether they were of the Company or not, to consider of
arguments against the settling of the chief government in New Eng-
land ; and on the other side, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Mr. Johnson,*
Captain Venn, and such others as they should call unto them, to pre-
pare arguments for the settling of the said government in New Eng-
land ; and, that tomorrow morning, being the 29th of August, at seven
of the clock, both sides should meet and confer and weigh each
other's arguments, and afterwards at nine of the clock (which is the
time appointed of meeting for a General Court) to make report thereof
to the whole Company, who then will determine the business."

At the meeting of the Court on the 29th of August, a long
debate was held, after which " Mr. Deputy put it to the ques-
tion as folio we th " : —

" As many of you as desire to have the patent and the government of
the Plantation to be transferred to New England, so as it may be done
legally, hold up your hands. So many as will not, hold up your hands.

" When, by erection of hands, it appeared by the general consent of
the Company, that the government and patent should be settled in New
England, and accordingly an Order to be drawn up."

A month later, at a meeting of the General Court, on the
29th of September, the " Orders " for transferring the govern-
ment and the patent were read, but they were not acted on ;
that business, being of such " great and weighty consequence,
is thought fit to be deferred for determination until Sir Rich-
ard Saltonstall, Mr. Johnson, and other gentlemen be come up
to London, and may be here present."

"In the mean time it was propounded that a committee should be
appointed,

* Saltonstall and Johnson signed the " Agreement at Cambridge."

182 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

To prepare the business ;

To take advice of learned council whether the same may be legally
done or no ;

By what way or means the same may be done, to correspond with
and not to prejudice the government here ;

To consider of the time when it will be fit to do it ;

To resolve on whom to confer the government ; and divers other
circumstances material to be resolved on," &c*

So cautious and doubtful were they as to the expediency and
legality of this measure, that the Order for the transference of
the government, &c, was never formally passed, although at
the meeting on the 15th of October the Company seem to have
assumed that it had been, and proceeded to make their arrange-
ments accordingly.! A government for trade was to remain
in London ; and articles of agreement between the adventurers
and planters were drawn up by the legal counsellor of the
company, Mr. Whyte, whose services and advice were so con-
venient for every emergency.

There would seem to be sufficient evidence in what has been
said to show that the proposition for the transference of the
chief government and patent to New England was a novel
one to all parties concerned at the time it was made, and quite
foreign to the purposes of the patentees when the charter was
granted.

The " opinion " of Mr. Whyte the counsellor, as to the legal-
ity of this measure, has not been transmitted to us. We may
suppose it to have run somewhat in this wise : —

" In framing your letters-patents I drew largely, according to
my instructions, upon the provisions of the Charter of the
Council for New England, who aliened their right of govern-
ment over the territory which they granted to you. By this

* Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts, pp. 86-91.

f The vote taken on the 29th of August was merely a preliminary one, to test the
sense of the meeting. This is clearly shown by the proceedings on the 29th of Sep ■
tember.

1869.] FORMS USED IN ISSUING LETTERS-PATENT. 183

new franchise from his Majesty you thus far stand in their
place.

" The patent was drawn, and passed through all its forms,
with no other view than that the chief government of the Com-
pany incorporated thereby would be located here in England,
and that a government in subordination to this would be es-
tablished on the plantation. Such was my understanding
when I drew the patent, such was the understanding of the
Crown Officers whom I was then constantly consulting,
and such was your own opinion when the patent passed into
your possession. Nothing else was wished for, and all your
proceedings thus far have jumped with this interpretation of
your grant. In accordance with this view I framed the Form
of Government for the Colony which you have sent over to
governor Endicott, with the duplicate of the patent.

"I will call your attention to some provisions which point
directly to this use of the patent. There are clauses provid-
ing for the election of the charter officers, — the Governor,
Deputy Governor, Assistants, &c, of the Company ; and
separate clauses for the appointing of ' such chief commanders,
captains, governors,' &c, as shall be employed upon the plan-
tation, or in the way by sea thither, or from thence, — a dis-
tinct class of officers. The first are elected annually from the
freemen, according to the directions given in the patent ; the
6econd are ' named ' or appointed in virtue of the ' orders,'
&c, of the Governor and Company, in any General (or spe-
cial) Court assembled. Observe also, that the officers who
are to be employed in the government in New England, and
in passing to and from said plantation, are respectively to havo
authority over all persons who shall go to inhabit there, —
while going, while resident, and while returning. This cer-
tainly imports that the corporation is to send out these per-
sons ; for, if it was itself resident on the plantation, it would
hardly expect to exercise control over his Majesty's subjects
before their arrival. The clause making provision in case of

184 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

fraud in exporting goods to a foreign country under pretence
of carrying them to the plantation, clearly presupposes the
residence of the Company within the realm. Many other pro-
visions might be mentioned.

" As your legal counsel, I feel constrained to advise you that
there is no precedent for the course proposed.

" It has been suggested that there is no clause in the patent
absolutely forbidding its transference to the plantation. It is
true there is nothing there prohibiting you to hold your meet-
ings, or to elect your officers, either in Massachusetts Bay or in
Nova Zembla ; and on this ground you might make your stand
if driven to a defence. Should you transfer your patent and
hold your meetings on the territory conveyed to the Company,
you will naturally abolish your subordinate government, and
thus make more simple the forms of your proceedings ; and if
you are not molested by the crown, as I trust you will not be,
with the great ocean between you and our State of England,
carrying yourselves ever with great caution and prudence, your
aims may have a quiet consummation. If your patent should
be demanded for any reason, be slow in responding to such a
call. There is sometimes great wisdom in delay. Always
plead the necessities of your condition. Your great distance
will be your protection. Remember this clause in the patent:
that it ' shall be construed, reputed, and adjudged in all cases
most favorably on the behalf and for the benefit and behoof of
the said Governor and Company, and their successors.' There
are many among you who feel that here ' the times are out of
joint,' and who wish to aid in building up a new England in
yonder distant wilderness. His gracious Majesty, perchance,
would not grieve much at your departure. You have a wise
leader in Master Winthrop, who proposes to join you, in case
the chief government and patent are transferred hence. My
advice to you is to take your letters-patents and exeant omnes"

The rights and privileges granted in the Massachusetts
charter have been subjected to severe analyses by legal minds,

1869.] FORMS USED IN ISSUING LETTERS-PATENT. 1 15

in the light of well-established principles of municipal law of
the present day ; and sometimes opposite conclusions respect-
ing some clauses of doubtful import have been arrived at. It
may be suggested that this is not always the surest method to
determine the historical question ; namely, as to the real inten-
tion and understanding of parties to an instrument involving
political franchises, drawn more than two centuries ago.*

* Dr. Palfrey, who inclines to the opinion that John VVhyte, in drawing the charter,
had a care to have it free from any phraseology which might interfere with the dis-
position subsequently made of it, quotes the following passage from it, as significant of
an express grant of power to that end. " The charter," he says, " empowers the Com-
pany and their assigns, not to ' send, carry, and transport,' but, ' out of any our realms
and dominions whatsoever, to take, lead, carry, and transport, for and into their voyages,
and for and towards the said plantation in New England, all such and so many of our
loving subjects, or any other, strangers, that will become our loving subjects and live
under our allegiance, as shall willingly accompany them in the same voyages and planta-
tion." {History of New England, I. 307.) But a reference to the Great Patent of New
England will show that this precise language, word for word, is taken from that instru-
ment, which empowers the Council for New England, professedly located in England,
their successors and assigns, ''to take, lead, carry,"- &c, as above. (See Trumhu&'s
Count. I. 555.) A similar provision will also be found in the first Charter of Virginia,
granted in 1606. (Stith, App. p. 4.)

It has been said that the Massachusetts Charter, unlike the Great Patent for New
England, did not locate the Company, incorporated by it, in England. The " Council
for New England " was substantially a re-incorporation of the "Adventurers of the
Northern Colony of Virginia," placing them more on a footing with their rivals, the
Southern Colony, whose franchise had been twice enlarged since the original charter of
1606. By that charter two Councils were established: one located in London, the other
in Plymouth. The new charter of the northern patentees would, of course, give them a
location, as the former charter had done, to distinguish the tw r o Councils from each other.
The Massachusetts charter incorporated one Company, which needed no location to dis-
tinguish it from any other company. As I interpret the general policy of England at
that time, this charter would, as a matter of course, locate the Company within the
realm of England. I am aware that the practice of the Crown some years later became
different.

On the theory that the Crown intended the Massachusetts Company to be located in
England, there has been a difficulty in some minds in accounting for the silence of the
government at the bold proceedings of the Company in transporting their patent and
government to New England. But it is not apparent how soon the rumor of the transfer
reached the royal ear. His Majesty had more important matters to look after, than a
few Puritan gentlemen trying to establish a trade or to settle a Colony three thousand
mile* away in the wilderness of America. Complaints against the Colony, however,
from time to time, reached the Council Table. On the 21st of February, 1633-4,
Cradock, the former Governor, was summoned before the Council, and required to
cause the Letters-Patents to be brought to the Board. " Cradock's reply," says Pal-
frey, ' ; that the charter had gone to America, perhaps first apprised the government of
that important fact." {history, I. 371.)

The elevation of Laud to the Archbishopric of Canterbury was a signal for renewed

186 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

But of one thing we may be certain : if the Massachusetts
charter was inadequate to the purpose of carrying on a colony
while the charter and chief government were located in Eng-
land, it certainly proved itself, after its transfer, wholly in-
adequate as a constitution of government for the Colony of
Massachusetts Bay. It became necessary, almost from the

proceedings against the Puritans in both Old and New England. The scheme for a
General Governor, and for the revocation of all colonial charters, was eagerly pressed.
The "Council for New England" surrendered their charter to the king in June, 1635,
after dividing the territory among themselves. The charter of Massachusetts was to be
vacated, as a matter of course. Proceedings were instituted against it in Westminster
Hall, in September of this year, by writ of quo warranto, brought by Sir John Banks,
who had succeeded Sir Robert Heath as Attorney General. Cradock and fourteen
other members of the Company were then in England.

Fourteen allegations of usurpation were brought. They may be seen in Hutchinson's
Coll. Papers, pp. 101-103. Several of the members in England appeared, each of whom,
except Cradock, severally pleaded that he had never usurped any of said liberties, and
disclaimed; and there was judgment against them that for the future they should not
intermeddle with any of the said franchises. Cradock came in, and having had time to
interplead, made default, and judgment was given that he should be convicted of the
usurpation charged, and that the said franchises should be taken and seized into the
king's hands.

The inquiry has sometimes been made, why, if the government had been unlawfully
established in the Colony, an allegation to that effect should not have appeared in the
indictment against the Company ? In reply it may be said, that it is doubtful how far
the authorities were informed, at this time, as to the nature of the proceedings of the
Company. They knew, the year before, that the charter had gone to New England, but
they also knew that nearly one-half the grantees were residing in England, where nomi-
nally a government of trade was kept up. How radical a departure from the intent of
the charter had been made, they may not have been informed. However this may be,
to the Attorney General it was a matter of little moment. He intended to lay the axe
at the root of the tree. He struck a blow at the charter itself, as being void ab initio.
It will be seen that his allegations of usurpation are, nearly all of them, an enumeration,
more or less accurate, of the powers granted in the charter; and, no doubt, were in-
tended to be so regarded. We therefore see here the Attorney General's analysis of the
charter itself. The first charge in the list of allegations is that they claim " to be a body
corporate and politique by the name of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts
Bay in New England, and by that name to plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered
in all courts and causes." If the company could not claim this, surely they could not claim
to live. The seventh allegation is, " To keep a constant Council in England of men of
their own Company and choosing, and to name, choose and swear certain persons to be
of that Council; and to keep one Council ever resident in New England, chosen out of
themselves, and to name, choose and swear whom they please to be of that Council."
The Attorney finds these provisions in the charter, and, assuming the practice of the
Company to have been in accordance therewith, he cites them as usurpations, — the in-
strument granting these powers being invalid. This would seem to be his reasoning.

(In the proceedings against the charter in the following reign, in 1684, which resulted
in its forfeiture, the validity of the instrument was fully admitted. The usurpations

1869.] FORMS USED IN ISSUING LETTERS-PATENT. 187

first, to assume powers for which no warrant can be found in
that instrument itself.

In these remarks relative to the Massachusetts charter —
which may be regarded as an appendix to the principal theme
proposed to myself in this paper — the purpose has been to

charged were confined to Levying Money ; Imposing Tunnage Duties ; Coining Money;
and Imposing an Oath of Fidelity to the Colonial Government. The list might have
been enlarged, but those charges were selected which could be the most easily proved;
indeed, concerning which, as matters of fact, there could be no dispute.)

One might almost be inclined to think that the purpose of the strange proceeding in
1635 was, by denying the existence of the royal charter, to compel the patentees to
produce the original in Court, in order, by legal means or otherwise, to obtain possession
of it. But the grantees in London could easily have produced an authenticated copy
from the Rolls Office, for the purposes of the trial, if they had chosen to contend.

Emanuel Downing, a brother-in-law of Gov. "Winthrop, and a lawyer of the Inner
Temple, was at this time living in London. He came to New England in 1638. In
1641, when Hugh Peter was about sailing for England, Downing addressed him a letter,
which contains the following passage: "The Bishop caused a Quo Warranto to be
sued forth in the King's Bench against our patentees, thinking to damn our patent, and
put a General Governour over us; but most of them that appeared I did advise to dis-
claim, which they might safely do, being not sworn Magistrates to govern according to
the patent ; and these Magistrates which do govern among us, being the only parties to
the patent, were never summoned to appear. Therefore if there be a Judgement given
against the patent, it's false and erroneous, and ought to be reversed, which, a motion
in the King's bench, without any long suit, by Writ of Error, may set right again."
(4 Mass. Hist. Coll. YI. 58.)

The Writ of Error suggested by Downing was never brought. The Colony had paid
no regard to the summons to return the charter, and the government continued on as if
Westminster Hall had never spoken. The troubles at home gave many years of peace
to the Colony here.

" The Restoration," however, was a signal for letting loose the birds of prey against
Massachusetts. Her charter was felt to be in danger. Many charges were brought
against the Colony — some true, and some false. There were twenty years of alternate
hope and fear. On the return of Stoughton and Bulkley, the agents to the Court at
London, in 1679, they brought a letter from Charles II., in which he directs the Colony to
send over other persons in six months, to attend lo matters connected, among other
things, with the charter. " For since the charter," he continues, " by its frame and con-
tents, was originally to be executed in this Kingdom and not in New England, otherwise
than by deputation (as is accordingly practiced in all other charters of like nature) 'tis not
possible to establish that perfect settlement we so much desire, until these things are better
understood." (Hutchinson's Coll. Papers, p. 519. ) The king here expressed the truth.
The Colony framed answers to this letter, in instructions to their agents, in which they
claimed that their patent was on the same footing with those more recently issued. But
no questions were ever raised respecting the charters of Rhode Island or Connecticut, or,
indeed, that of Maryland to Lord Baltimore. It was always understood that these were
to be executed upon the place.

The Chief Justices, Rainsford and North, had given their opinion two years before that

188 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

treat the subject discussed in a strictly historical point of view,
and by the aid of contemporary documents.

Professor Parker then addressed the meeting as follows : —

I congratulate the Society upon the great industry and zeal
for its interests which have been always evinced by the Record-
ing Secretary ; and Mr. Deane, himself, upon the success which
has attended his efforts to ascertain the mode in which charters
were formerly granted in England, and the circumstances at-
tending the grant of the First Charter of Massachusetts. He
has laid before the Society a mass of curious information,
which I venture to believe was not, until his investigation, in
the possession of many persons in the United States, and
respecting which probably few persons in England itself had
accurate knowledge. It shows the very great caution which
formerly prevailed there, respecting grants of acts of incorpo-
ration, — a caution which might well be observed here, to some
extent, — although doubtless the people of this country would
never consent to adopt so many formalities as have heretofore
attended the English mode of procedure.

As this information was supposed to have some bearing
upon a portion of the Lecture delivered by me at the Lowell
Institute, last winter, Mr. Deane, with his uniform courtesy
and kindness, informed me of his intention to lay the papers
before the Society, and submitted copies to my inspection,
which, from circumstances, was but a hasty one.

From such consideration as I have been able to give to the
subject, I do not regard the new matter now for the first time
accessible here, as infringing, in any material degree, upon the

the Charter of 4th Car. I., " made the Adventurers a corporation upon the place " ; and
the Attorney General Sawyer, in the subsequent reign, expressed the opinion that the
grantees might transfer their patent. But Chalmers intimates that they never carefully
examined the patent, nor studied its history. (Annals, 173. )

1869.] ADDRESS BY PROFESSOR PARKER. 189

views which I expressed in that Lecture, respecting the true
construction of the First Charter.

The only bearing which these papers have upon the subjects
there discussed, is upon the right of the grantees to transfer
the charter, and the government of the Colony, to this country.

The additional evidence found in these papers, which it is
supposed may affect that question, is in the information re-
specting the mode in which charters were granted at that time,
showing the different stages of the progress, from the petition
in the first instance, to the final perfection of the grant, — and
particularly in showing that the Docket, as it is termed, is a
paper signed by the Attorney or Solicitor General, or both,
addressed to the king, and appended to the King's Bill, as it is
called, which Bill is a draft of the charter, submitted to the
king for his approval. The purpose of this Docket, thus an-
nexed, is, to set forth, briefly, the object and contents of the
Bill, for his Majesty's information. It forms no part of the
Bill, or charter, but is a mere representation to enable the king
more readily to understand the Bill, or proposed charter.

Chalmers professes to give a copy of the "docquet " as taken
out of the Privy Seal office ; and from the terms of his copy, it
would appear to be a memorandum of the character of the
charter, and of the proceedings relating to it, made and kept in
that office. It has none of the forms of a representation to the
king, but is historical in its character, and, for aught which
appears, might have been made up at different times. In fact,
the last part of it evidently was made after the charter had
finally passed, as it states the date of the passage.

The description of the charter, as there set down, so far as it
relates to the present question, is, " a grant and confirmation
to Sir Henry Rosewell and others," — " incorporating them by
the name of the governor and company of the Massachusetts
Bay in New England, in America, with such other privileges,
for electing governor and officers here in England for the said
company" &c. Finding no such language in the charter, and

190 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY [Dec.

no other terms confining elections to England, I was induced
to suppose, naturally, I think, that this Docket, like the memo-
randa of dockets in court, stated proceedings at different stages,
and that a part of the charter relating to the election of gov-
ernors, &c, had been altered afterwards, and the restrictive
clause left out.

The papers now furnished through the investigation of our
distinguished associate and Secretary, show that this was a
mistaken supposition, — that the Docket, or representation to
the king, annexed to the charter, as presented for his signa-
ture, contained that clause, whatever may be its signification,
that he prefixed his signature, and that although three copies
of the charter were made, there was no alteration, so far as
appears, in it.

I submit that all this in no way impairs the force of the
argument which I had the honor to make respecting the true
construction of the charter, — showing, as I thought, that the
charter itself did authorize the establishment of the government
in Massachusetts, in the manner in which the grantees did in
fact establish it, and that it was then so understood. The
phraseology which is found in the Docket, and which is used
as an argument to show that the election of governors and
officers was confined to England, is not in the charter, and, it
would seem, was never in it. Whether it was once in the char-
ter and struck out, as I at first supposed, or whether it never
was there, as it now appears, is quite immaterial to the argu-
ment and to the conclusion. It is not there. It was not in
the charter when it was granted. It forms no part of it.
That is the material fact. That the Docket contains it, is im-
material.

The king may, or may not, have read the charter, and the
Docket, one or both. It is immaterial whether he read either.
If he did read the charter, he must be presumed to have seen
that the charter contained no clause confining the election of
governors and other officers to England. If he trusted to

1869.] ADDRESS BY PROFESSOR PARKER. 191

the representations in the Docket, or, not reading that, to the
verbal representations of his officers, and thus supposed the
charter to be what it was not, that cannot affect the rules
which must govern the construction of the charter. The
Docket itself formed no part of the charter, notwithstanding
it was annexed to the draft of it submitted to the king ; and
neither that nor any verbal representations of his ministers, if
there were such, could have been admitted to contradict or
vary the construction of the instrument itself, which, in the
absence of any ambiguity, or even in the case of an ambiguity
arising from its terms, must be construed by a sound interpre-
tation of its provisions, as appearing on the face of it. I appeal
to learned gentlemen before me, who have held distinguished
positions upon the bench of the Supreme Court of the Com-
monwealth, if that is not the rule of law in relation to the con-
struction of written instruments. They assent and sustain my
position. But here is no ambiguity. The language of the
charter, although it contains no express provision on this sub-
ject of the transfer, is consistent with itself. There is, in fact,
nothing that requires explanation by extrinsic evidence. To
use the Docket to give a construction to it, would be to raise
an ambiguity and an uncertainty, instead of furnishing a solu-
tion of an existing doubt, while it would be a direct violation
of one of the most ordinary rules of law. Whether the charter
does or does not confer a power to establish government in
Colony, must be determined by a consideration of what is con-
tained in it.*

* The Docket was not introduced by me as forming any part of the charter, but as
furnishing evidence historically of the intention of the grantor. Distinguished histo-
rians like Hutchinson, Chalmers, Robertson, and Graham, and jurists like Marshall and
Story, have maintained, from an examination of the provisions of the charter itself, that
it was intended to be executed within the realm, with power to establish a subordinate
government and magistracy upon the plantation, — like the Great Plymouth Patent of
Nov. 3, 1620. The eminent authority of Professor Parker is now brought to bear
against this opinion. It seemed to me, therefore, not unreasonable, as to its bearing
on the historical question, to introduce evidence to show the understanding of the crown

192 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

The propriety of the general rule is made manifest in this
very case. Whatever was contained in the Docket, was a
matter between the king and his officers, and not between his
Majesty and the grantees. Not only had the grantees nothing
to do with making np the Docket, but there is not a particle of
evidence to show that any one of them ever saw it, or had any
knowledge whatever of its contents. It would be gross injus-
tice to restrict or limit the powers which the charter purported
to confer ; powers which, to a greater or less extent, induced
the grantees to accept and act under it, — by a supposition on
the part of his Majesty, wholly unknown to them, that it was
restricted in a very important particular, of which supposition
also they had no knowledge nor any means of knowledge.

But the case does not rest on this argument. It does not
rest on the rule excluding extrinsic evidence, nor upon con-
struction, derived from the terms of the charter itself. The
contemporary construction, as shown, both affirmatively and
negatively, is wholly in favor of the existence of authority,
derived from the charter of course, to establish the govern-
ment within the limits of the Colony, and goes to prove that it
was not supposed by the -king, or the law officers of the crown,
that there had been any representations to his Majesty that the
government had a i local habitation ' in England, which it could
not lawfully change.

The grantees, within a few months after the charter was
issued, proceeded, on due deliberation, and with competent

officers at the time of the granting of the charter, and the action of the grantees on
receiving it.

That Professor Parker has given ahove a sound exposition of the law for the inter-
pretation of private contracts and other strictly legal papers, I am bound to believe.
Whether the same doctrine will apply to the interpretation of Municipal Charters or
other instruments of a political or semi-political character, to the exclusion of what is
called " contemporary exposition," may well be questioned. In interpreting the Constitu-
tion of the United States, an instrument framed within the memory of many now living,
jurists and historians do not hesitate to cite the proceedings of the Convention which
framed it, or the expositions of the writers of the " Federalist," or the doings of the
First Congress. — Note by Mr. Deane.

1869.] ADDRESS BY PROFESSOR PARKER. 193

legal advice it would seem, to transfer the charter and the
government to the Colony, and there to exercise all the
authority which the charter conferred.

This thing was not done in a corner, and must have been
known, almost immediately, to the king and his council. The
fact came before them officially, in a very short time, by
reason of complaints respecting some of the proceedings of
the colonists ; complaints, not of the organization and admin-
istration of government in the Colony, but respecting the
manner of its administration, as it affected individuals.

If it had been supposed that there was no authority for such
an organization within the Colony ; nay, if it had not been un-
derstood, and well understood, that the authority existed, and
that the colonists were lawfully acting under it, we should
have before us plenary evidence of indignant remonstrance on
the part of the crown officers, and such summary measures as
the case admitted of, on the part of his Majesty, to put an
immediate stop to the supposed unlawful proceedings.

But instead of this we do not find a lisp of an objection on
this point from the king, or the councillors. On the contrary,
when in 1632, upon representation by interested parties of
" great distraction and much disorder " existing in New Eng-
land, the matter was referred to the Privy Council, and exam-
ined by a committee, the council, so far from taking any
objection to the government there, declared " that the appear-
ances were so fair, and hopes so great, that the country would
prove both beneficial to this kingdom, and profitable to the
particulars, as that the adventurers had cause to go on cheer-
fully with their undertaking ; and rest assured that if things
were carried as pretended when the patents were granted, and
accordingly as by the patent is appointed, his Majesty would
not only maintain the liberties and privileges heretofore
granted, but supply any thing farther that might tend to the
good government, prosperity, and comfort of his people there,
of that place." And his Majesty on the matter being repre-

194 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.

sented to him, is reported to have " said, that he would have
them severely punished who did abuse his governor and the
plantation."

I submit that at this time, it could not but have been fully
known that the charter was transferred, and the government
established here, and that it is absolutely incredible that these
proceedings should have been had, and these commendations
expressed, if it had been understood by the law officers of the
crown, that the government had a locality in England, as the
Council of Plymouth had by its charter, and that the king
had believed that the Docket so represented the purport and
effect of the charter to him, and that he had been deceived in
making the grant.

Again ; if it had been understood that there was a legal
objection to the transfer, and to the establishment of the gov-
ernment here, that objection must have appeared in the writ
of quo warranto issued in the King's Bench, in 1635, for the
purpose of procuring a conviction of usurpation and judgment
of ouster against the grantees.

The establishment of the government here, if illegal, ren-
dered all the acts done under it illegal. The objection, if
valid, was open, palpable, and admitted neither of excuse nor
evasion. But while more than a dozen other exceptions are
taken, no objection of this character is raised or suggested.
It transcends belief that there could have been an omission to
take the objection if it had then been supposed that one of that
character existed.*

It hardly strengthens the position, that the establishment of
the government here was not only warranted by the charter,
but that it was so understood from the outset, when I repeat,

* This process was not founded upon the mere assumption that there was no valid
charter, but was, in part, upon an assumption that the company had no rights. There
was judgment of seizure of the franchises. The objection that the company had no
power to set up government in the colony, if well founded, would have been just as fatal,
— just as good a ground for a conviction of usurpation, and judgment of forfeiture and
seizure, — as the allegations which were, ostensibly, the ground of that proceeding.

1869. j ADDRESS BY PROFESSOR PARKER. 195

further, that in the several attempts by the Lords Commission-
ers to obtain possession of the charter, for the purpose of revok-
ing it, no objection of this character was made, and that it first
appeared, in any official form, in the reign of Charles II. more
than thirty years after the charter was granted and the govern-
ment established here, and that it then had its origin with
Randolph.

SUPPLEMENTAEY NOTE.

In the Lecture which has been published, I admitted that the words contained
in the Docket, " with such other privileges for electing governors and officers here in
England, for the said company" were explicit enough to show that when that
minute was made there was an intention that the corporation should have a ' local
habitation ' in England. And regarding this Docket as a memorandum made in
the Council, I endeavored to account for the fact that the charter contained no
such provision, and for the other circumstances tending to show that it was not
supposed that the corporation was so confined and limited, by a supposition that
this clause in the Docket was an early memorandum, and that there was a subse-
quent change of that intention.

When the papers now discovered in the inquiry instituted by Mr. Deane,
were presented to my notice through his courtesy, my attention was naturally
attracted to the fact that the Docket was a representation of the Attorney or
Solicitor General to the King, respecting the object and purport of the proposed
charter, and to the effect of that fact upon the argument ; and I did not subject
the terms of it to any strict scrutiny.

But a careful examination of it, and a comparison with Chalmers's copy of the
memorandum found in the Privy Seal office, and which he called the " docquet,"
shows that there is a very material variance between them. To say nothing
of the substitution in Chalmers's copy of the words, "such other privileges"
instead of "such clauses" which last is the language of the true docket, but
which may not be material ; there is an entire omission, in the document pub-
lished by Chalmers, of an important clause directly following the words relating
to the election of officers in these words, "and powers to make laws and ordinances
for settling the government and magistracy for the plantation there." So that this part
of the Docket reads thus, — " Incorporating them" &c. " With such clauses for the
electing of governors and officers here in England for the said company, and powers
to make laws and ordinances for settling the government and magistracy for the planta-
tion there," &c.

Now it might savor of presumption were I to say that here are two distinct
clauses, intended for different purposes ; that the last supplements the first, with
an additional and different power, which might supersede the use of the first;
and that the true and undoubted meaning of this language is, that the charter
gave power to elect governors and officers in England, and a further power to
make laws and ordinances by which the government and magistracy might be

196 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec, 1869.

established [settled] in the colony, so that the governor and other officers might
afterwards be elected there.

But I do say that the clause is susceptible of that construction ; that such
construction gives operation and significance to the whole of the language which
I have quoted (which is required in construing instruments, if it may be done) ;
that it renders the action of the grantees perfectly consistent with this language
of the Docket, for they acted precisely in that manner (they elected a governor
in England, and then made an ordinance for ''settling" the government and
magistracy of the plantation within the colony), that it explains why no objection
was made by king or council when the government was settled here, because the
right to do so was known and recognized ; why no suggestion that such settle-
ment was unwarranted was made when complaints were heard before the council
of " great distraction and much disorder" in New England, and when the matter
respecting that hearing was reported to the king ; why no allegation was inserted
in the process of quo warranto that this "settling" or setting up government here
was a usurpation; why the Lords Commissioners made no objections of that
character; and why, for thirty years, nothing was uttered from any official
source, against the lawfulness of this settlement of the government and magis-
tracy here.

With the real docket before me, I, at the least, should not have made an
admission that there was evidence to show an intention, at any time, to confine
the corporation to a local habitation in England.

The further memorandum in the Docket, that the corporation is to have such
other privileges as were possessed by the Council at Plymouth, cannot affect this
question. That corporation had a local habitation at Plymouth, in the county of
Devon, by the express terms of the grant, and it was a restriction, rather than a
privilege.

Mr. Deane made a brief rejoinder to some of the remarks
of Professor Parker ; but he believes that what he said is sub-
stantially included in the paper read by him, and in the notes
appended thereto.

Jan., 1870.] MORTON MEMORIALS. 197

JANUARY MEETING, 1870.

A stated monthly meeting was held on Thursday, the 13th
instant, at 11 o'clock, a.m., the President in the chair.

The record of the last meeting was read by the Recording
Secretary.

The Librarian read his usual list of donors to the library for
the month preceding.

The Corresponding Secretary read a letter of acceptance
from Thomas B. Akins, Esq., of Halifax, N.S.

The President announced as a gift to the library from our
associate, Mr. Norton, now in Europe, copies of three letters
of Columbus, in photographic fac simile, for which the grateful
acknowledgments of the Society were ordered. (See p. 223.)

The President read a letter of invitation to the officers of
the Massachusetts Historical Society, from the Committee
of Invitation at Peabody, Mass., to attend the funeral of the
late Mr. George Peabody, to take place in his native town soon
after the arrival of his remains in this country. Whereupon,
on motion of Dr. Robbins, it was —

Voted, That the officers of this Society be appointed and
requested to represent the Society at the funeral of their late
honored associate, George Peabody, in compliance with the
request of the Committee of Invitation in behalf of the Trus-
tees of the Peabody Institute, and of the Committee of the
town of Peabody.

The President called attention to the letter of Dr. H. I.
Bowditch, relative to the Morton Memorials, read at the last
meeting ; in connection with which there was exhibited upon
the table the Box containing the medals, &c, and also a volume
of Letters and Documents relative to Dr. Morton's discovery
and claims.

The Box contained a large Gold Medal from the National
Institute of France, on the obverse of which is inscribed,
" Institut National de France," and on the reverse, " Aca-

198

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

[Jan.

deniie des Sciences ; Prix Montyon Medecine et Chirurgie ;
Concours de 1847 et 1848 ; Wm. T. G. Morton, 1850." Also a
" Cross of the Order of St. Vladimir, Kussia " ; and a " Cross
of the Order of Wasa, Sweden and Norway." It also encloses
a large Silver Box, bearing this inscription : " This box, con-
taining one thousand dollars, is presented to William Thomas
Green Morton, by the members of the Board of Trustees of
the Massachusetts General Hospital, and other citizens of
Boston, May 8, 1848. ' He has become poor in a cause which
has made the world his debtor.' "

The yolume of Letters is inscribed on the outside of the
cover, " Morton's Claims to the First Use of ^Etherization in
Surgery." In this volume is written the conditions on which
these memorials are deposited in the cabinet of the Historical
Society. This volume, and the box containing the medal and
crosses, are placed in a case of black-walnut, so that they can
be easily seen.

Dr. Bowditch also sent some papers to the President, ex-
pressing the hope that gentlemen might be induced to sub-
scribe to a fund for the erection of a simple monument over
the remains of Dr. Morton, at Mount Auburn, and also to make
some provision for his surviving family.

These Memorials were referred to the Standing Committee,
to be cared for agreeably to the terms on which they were
deposited in the cabinet of the Society.

The President asked the leave of the Society to have a cast
taken from Powers's bust of Mr. Peabody in the Dowse Library,
which was granted.

Mr. Deane read the following letter from Mr. Thomas
Carlyle : —

5 Cheyne Row, Chelsea, 21 Dec, 1869.
Dear Sir, — Many thanks for your serial number of Proceedings,
which arrived duly the other night ; and which, especially the paper on
Montcalm's letter, I have read with interest and pleasure. Mr. Park-
man's faithful industry is worthy of all recognition, equally so Marquis
de Montcalm's accuracy and candour, and your Society's wise decision
on that strange document.

1870.] LETTER FROM MR. THOMAS CARLYLE. 199

Here in England, for above a year past, — when a new edition

(7 volumes post octavo) of that book on Friedrich was sent forth,

there has been no doubt left but the Almon pamphlet was a forgery.
On page 117, vol. VI., of that new edition, there has — to the foot-note
of edition 1865, in reference to that letter of Montcalm's, as you already
have both foot-note and it — this conclusive postscript been added,
which, since you evidently have not yet seen it, I here copy and en-
close.

The postscript here follows : —

"A forgotten book" {note of first edition, 1865). "A copy is in
the Boston Athenaeum Library, New England ; it is a pamphlet rather
than a book ; contains two letters to Berryer, Ministre de la Marine,
besides this to Mole, the cousin ; publisher is the noted Almon, —
in French and English." {From Boston Sunday Courier, of 19th
April, 1868, where this letter is reproduced.)

In the Temple Library, London, I have since found a copy, and, on
strict survey, am obliged to pronounce the whole pamphlet a forgery,
especially the two letters to " Berrier, Ministre of Marine," who was
not yet minister of any thing, nor thought of as likely to be, for many
months after the date of these letters addressed to him as such ! In-
ternal evidence, too, were such at all wanted, is abundant in these
Berryer letters ; which are of gross and almost stupid structure in
comparison to the Mole one. As this letter has already got into vari-
ous books, and been argued in Parliament and high places (Lord
Shelburne asserting it to be spurious, Lord Mansfield to be genuine :
Report of Parliamentary Debates, in Gentleman 's Magazine for Novem-
ber and for December, 1777 ; p. 515, 560), it may be allowed to continue
here in the condemned state. Forger, probably some ex-Canadian or
other American Royalist, anxious to do the insurgent party and their
British apologists an ill turn in that critical year ; — had shot — off his
pamphlet to voracious Almon, who prints without preface or criticism,
and even without correcting the press. {Note of July, 1868, Vol. VI.,
p. 117, of Carlyle's Friedrich, London, 1869.)

Mr. Carlyle then proceeds with his letter : —
If Mr. Parkman ever thought of publishing those indisputable
Montcalm letters, — still better, if the Marquis de Montcalm should
think of going into the French archives, and publishing as well a judi-
cious selection of the many that must be there, — I should be very
anxious to see them. Believe me yours sincerely,

T. Carlyle.

To Charles Dea>*e, Esq., Recording Secrtary, cfc, #c.

200 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan.

The reading of this letter called forth remarks from Mr. J.
C. Gray and Mr. Parkman,

In the course of some remarks relative to Montcalm, the
President stated that the well-known work entitled " Hawkins's
Picture of Quebec," was put in shape and edited by his old
school-master, Dr. John Carlton Fisher, formerly a resident of
this city, and a fine classical scholar, who came over from
England under the auspices of Edward Everett.

The President said he had received a letter from M. Jules
Marcou, accepting membership in the Society.

The President presented a number of old papers from his
family files, containing some interesting memoranda, of which
copies are given below.

Mem? 1 Decerab r . y e 28 th 1712. [New London, Conn.]

It being a fair warme morning, very unusuall for y e time of year,
when, towards night, y e Hemispheer clouded, w*? y e wind at S.E. and
began to Rain, and about eight of yf clock at Night it Lightned w*? very
seveer flashes, on a sudden, y! it seem'd every where to be High day,
immediately follow'd an extraordinary clapp of Thunder, I think y e
Hardest & loudest y* ever I heard ; yf Tides also eb'd & flow'd 4
Times in less y? an hours space, after a most surprizing manner, Six
foot higher y? yf highest Spring Tides was ever known. It did con-
siderable damage, but y e Thunder was amazing and very terrible,
breaking yf House of one of yf neighbours in Severall places, and
hurting some of the children of Mr Hall am, and at some distance run
along y e ground, tore it up, splitt Trees, broke great rocks, kil'd 3. cows
belonging to Mr. Edgcomb, and at a miles distance or more from this
damage it shattered y e windows, &c. of an another House of Mr Harriss.
A most seveer tempest of wind & rain follow'd for a short space, w ch
broke up y e Coves & Rivers, in an instant, and y 11 cleared up, and a
bright moon light night follow'd, a little before y e Full. M r Adams
y e minister of y e Towne preacht from yf 26 th of Job & y e 14 th verse,
y e Sabbath day following, and sung a part of yf 18*? psalm.

Yf eating teeth of time devours all things. A Hogshead of ancient
papers of value, belonging to of family, lost at Ipswich in New-Eng :
A barrell full of papers, &c. Burnt in a warehouse at Boston.

1870.]

GIFTS FROM MR. H. A. S. D. DUDLEY.

201

The Names of those Worthy & ffamous Ministers of the Gospell
who haue declared their Judgment in Print for the Congregation Way-
According to the former Practice of the Churches of New England,
Even the Premative Practic . . .

Doer: Owen

Doc: Ames

Doe: Fulke

Doc: Whittaker

Doc: Renolds

Doc: Willet

Doc: Taylor

Doc: Sibbs

Doc: D. Tho: Goodwin

: Brigtbman

Calvin

Cartwrigbt

Fenner

Parker

Pirkins

Baiues

Iacob

Wilson ye great

Mitchell

Bfeopea Ainsworth &
Robinson
Cotton
Davenport
Hooker
Norton
Burrougbs
Howe

Allen of Dedham
Chancey P*:sident

And many Otber Famous in their Generation

Men of Renown? and y e five Decenting Ministers

viz : Mess r <»: W m : Bridge ; Phillip Ney ; Jos: Carell ; Sydrack Symson.*

3 re&3 Hooker Jun':
Lathrop
Streat
Whiteing
Rogers Sen':
Simms
Elliott
Mather Sen': & J>

of Dorchester
Higginson
Thatcher
Shepard
Stone
Bartlett

Indorsed, — The Names of Ministers &c in favor of the Congregational way
of "Worship. No date.

The President announced as a gift to the Society from Mr.
H. A.. S. D. Dudley, of Roxbury, the portraits of Governor
Joseph Dudley and his wife, Rebecca (Tyng) Dudley. These
excellent pictures were probably painted in England, but there
appears to be no tradition in the family as to the name of the
artist.

The President said that this gift was accompanied by some
valuable manuscripts, and he would call upon the Recording
Secretary, Mr. Deane, for a description of them.

Mr. Deane said that the papers presented by Mr. Dudley con-
sisted chiefly of parchment deeds. The earliest was the orig-
inal of the celebrated conveyance of the Province of Maine,
by Ferdinand Gorges, Esq., to John Usher, the agent of the
Colony of Massachusetts, for .£1250, dated the 13th of March,
1677-8. Gorges's signature is appended to the instrument, but
the seal is wanting. Usher's conveyance to the Colony is
dated two days after that of Gorges; namely, the loth of
March. Copies of each are recorded in the office of the Sec-
retary of State in Boston ; and both have been published in the
Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II. pp. 257-264.

* Thomas Goodwin was one of the five Dissenting Brethren. — Eds.
2*

202 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan.

The original Commission to Joseph Dudley, as Deputy-
Governor of the Province of West New Jersey, is among these
papers. It is doubtful if Dudley ever entered upon the duties
of that office. Dr. Coxe, in the following year, 1691, conveyed
the government and territories to a number of persons associ-
ated under the name of " The West Jersey Society " (Smith's
New Jersey, p. 207).

The only printed document is a broadside proclamation of
Governor Dudley, for a " General Embargo," issued the 9th of
June, 1711, the day after the arrival at Boston of Col. Nichol-
son, who went to England after the reduction of Port Royal to
solicit another expedition against Canada, of which the ill-fated
attempt of Sir Hovenden Walker, of that year, was the result.
(See Hutchinson, II., 190.)

In this list will be found the manuscript " Life of Mr.
Thomas Dudley," written probably by Cotton Mather. In the
" Magnalia," at pages 15-19 of Book II., is a brief notice of
Thomas Dudley, in the course of which Mather says : " I
had prepared and intended a more particular Account of this
gentleman ; but not having any opportunity to commit it unto
the Perusal of any Descended from him, (unto whom I am
told it will be unacceptable for me to Publish any thing of this
kind by them not Perused) I have laid it aside, and summed
all up in this more General Account" The style of the manu-
script, and the identity of certain passages and phrases in the
two accounts, would seem to indicate one origin. The manu-
script is not in Mather's handwriting, but in that of a con-
temporary. It may have been copied from the original for the
use of the Dudley family, through whom it has now found a
resting-place in the Library of this Society.

By referring to the printed " Proceedings " of this Society
for February and April, 1858, it will be seen that Mr. George
Adlard, of New York, forwarded to the Society a copy of this
Life of Thomas Dudley (with some other papers) for publication.
It had been transcribed by him from this manuscript, then

1870.] GIFTS FROM MR. H. A. S. D. DUDLEY. 203

temporarily in possession of a gentleman in this city. This
transcript, with the other papers sent by Mr. Adlard, were
referred to a committee, of which the late Joseph Willard was
chairman. The committee were not satisfied of the verbal
accuracy of Mr. Adlard's transcript, and were unwilling to
recommend the publication of the paper unless an opportunity
could be had of comparing it with the manuscript from which
it was copied. As that opportunity was not afforded them,
Mr. Adlard's papers were placed in the possession of the So-
ciety, subject to his order.

In 1862, Mr. Adlard issued a volume, entitled " The Sutton-
Dudleys of England and the Dudleys of Massachusetts in Xew
England," — a work of considerable interest. In this volume
was printed the Life of Thomas Dudley, from the transcript
made by him. By comparing this copy as printed, with the
manuscript just deposited in the Library of the Society, it will
be seen that the committee referred to were fully justified in
the position they took ; namely, that it would not be safe to
print from Mr. Adlard's copy alone. Mr. Deane thought it
was the duty of the Society now to print this memoir according
to the early manuscript just intrusted to the Society's care.

The following is a list of the papers presented by Mr,
Dudley, — a few of which are printed in full : —

1. Deed from Ferdinando Gorges to John Usher, of the Province

of Maine, March 13, 1677 (1678, N.S.).

2. Oxford Patent granted to Joseph Dudley, "William Stoughton,

Robert Thompson, and Daniel Coxe, by James II., dated Jan.
11, 1687 (1688, N.S.).

3. Deed of Tract of Land along the Charles River, granted to Joseph

Dudley, signed by Sir Edmund Andros, Governor, July 5, 1688.

4.. Confirmatory Deed of several Lots of Land in the Town of Rox-
bury, from Sir Edmund Andros, Governor, to Joseph Dudley
dated July 20, 1688.

5. Grant of Land in the Nipmug country, called Manchaug. to Joseph
Dudley and William Stoughton, dated Jan. 5, 1688 (1689, N.S.).

204 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan.

6. Commission of Joseph Dudley as Deputy Governor of the Province
of West New Jersey; signed by Dr. Daniel Coxe, Governor
of said Province, Dec. 5, 1690.

" To all People to whom this p r sent Writing shall come I Daniel
Coxe of London Doct r . in Physick Governour of the Province of
West New Jersey in America, and of the Islands and Territories
thereunto belonging send Greeting, Know yee that I the said Daniel
Coxe have nominated constituted and appointed in my place my well
beloved Friend Joseph Dudley of Roxbury in New England Esq! to
be Deputy Governour of the said province of West New Jersey and
the Islands and Territories thereunto belonging, hereby granting unto
the said Joseph Dudley the full power authority exercise and office of
Deputy Governour of the said Province Islands and Territories, and all
and every such and the like powers authorities priviledges Jurisdictions
Fees profits and perquisites as any Deputy Governour there, under his
late Majesty when Duke of York, or any other Deputy Governour there
by force or vertue of the several Letters Patents of his late Majesty
King Charles the Second bearing date the Twelfth of March in the
Sixteenth year of his late reigne, and the twenty nineth of June in the
sixteenth or twenty sixth year of his said Reigne, or any deputation or
deputations by from or under his late Maj*r when Duke of Yorke, or
by from or under any other Governour of the said province Islands
and Territories or otherwise howsoever lawfully did might or ought to
have used exercised or enjoyed in or Over the said province Lands
territories People and Inhabitants therein or in any of them, To have
use exercise execute and enjoy the said Office of Deputy Governour
and all the said powers authorities priviledges and Jurisdictions, Together
with all Fees profits and perquisites thereunto belonging or in any
wise appertaining Unto the said Joseph Dudley For and during the
full Terme and space of Three yeares next ensuing after the first
arrival of the said Joseph Dudley in the said Province of West
New Jersey aforesaid If I the said Daniel Coxe shall soe long live
and continue Governour of the said province, Soe alwaies That the
said Joseph Dudley in the use and Exercise of the said Powers au-
thorities and Jurisdictions shall pursue such lawful Instructions and
directions as he shall from time to time receive from mee the said
Daniel Coxe Provided That if I the said Daniel Coxe shall arrive in
the said Province before the arrival of the said Joseph Dudley, there,
or at any time afterwards within the said space of Three yeares, That
then and in any of the said cases This present Grant and deputation

1870.] GIFTS FROM MR. H. A. S. D. DUDLEY. 205

shall immediately from thenceforth be utterly void and of none effect,
Anything herein contained to the contrary thereof notwithstanding
In witnesse whereof I the said Daniel Coxe have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Fifth day of December Anno domini 1690 And in the
Second year of the reigne of Our Sovererigne Lord and Lady William
and Mary by the grace of god King and Queen of England, &c, a "

"DAN: COXE"

" Signed sealed & deliv : by Dr. Daniell Cox
in presence of Nicholas Hayward Notary
Publick & Register of West New Jersey & of
the witnesses underwritten."

"Richard Haynes a

T ^ Quod attestor rogatus,

JnoiTudbb ^ * ' Civitas

Daniel Wharley Nic Hayward,

Tho : Richardson 1690. No. Pub.

James Brain

Benj: Brain"

7. Commission of William Dudley as Major of Foot in the Province

of Massachusetts Bay ; signed by Joseph Dudley, Governor, Dec.
9, 1710.

8. A Proclamation for a General Embargo, June 9, 1711 — a printed

broadside.

[This proclamation is printed on the following page, in order that it may be
given entire on one page.]

9. The Life of Thomas Dudley.

[The Life of Dudley will be found, farther on, printed entire.]

206 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan.

By His EXCELLENCY,

Jofeph Dudley Efq.

Captain General and GOVERNOUR in Chief, in and over Her
Majefties Provinces of die Maffachufetts-Bay and New-Hamp-
Jhire in New-England, and Vice-Admiral of the fame.

A PROCLAMATION

For a General Embargo.
In Obedience to Her Majefties Commands:

IJBo, feg ano Smtfj tlje Wfoitiz of P?er iilaje&ties Council, fjerefjg
©roer a strict Embargo upon all ©utmaro frouno jjHercoant
iSljips ano Uessels; ano tljat none be permttteo to Sail from tire
seberal Ports ano harbours inhere tljeg nom arc until further ©roer ;
fExcept Filhing anO Goatling Provilion Sloops anO Veflels, Wood
ano Lumber Sloops. <&i fcjjfcjj all tlje ©ulcers of P^er ifftajesttes
Customs, ifraoal ano Impost Officers, Captains ano Commanocrs
of Castles ano jFotts are strt'ctlg Commanoeo to take Notice ano
(Eiooem tljemseloes accorotnejlg. &no not to ©rant Clearings or
passes, nor to suffer ang Sljip or Uessel, otljer tfjan as aforesato,
to &atl out of ano port or ^arbour, or to pass ang Castle, jFort or
iFortiucatton, fottljout particular Cipress ©roer for tj)e same from
mg &elt

Given at the Council Chamber in Bojlon the Ninth Day of June, 1711.
In the Tenth Year of the Reign of our Soveraign Lady ANNE,
by the Grace of GOD of GREAT BRITAIN, France and Ireland,
QUEEN, Defender of the Faith, &c.

By Order of the Governour, by &

with the Advice of the Council, J. DUD LET,

Isaac &00tncjton Seer.

GOD Save the Queen.

___ 1 ,

BOS TON: Printed by B. Green, Printer to His Excellency the GOV. & COUNCIL, 1711.

1870.1 LIFE OF THOMAS DUDLEY. 207

THE LIFE

MR. THOMAS DUDLEY,

SEVERAL TIMES GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS COLONY, IN NEW ENGLAND."

Mr. Dudley was born in the town of Northampton, in the
year 1674.* His father was Capt° Roger Dudley, who was
slain in the wars, when this his son & one only daughter were
very [young] . But he might say in his experience that when he
was forsaken of father and mother, then God took him up &
stirred up some friends that took special charge of him even in
his childhood. 'Twas said, that there was five hundred pounds
left for him in an unknown hand, which was not so long con-
cealed but that it came to light in due time, and was seasonably
delivered into his own hands after he came to mans estate ;
but before that time he passed through many changes, wherein
he found the goodness of God, both in way of protection and
preservation, by all which experiences he was the better pre-
pared for such eminent services for the Church of God which
he was in after time called unto. In his minority & child-
hood it pleased God to move the heart of one Mrs. Puefroy, a
gentlewoman famed in the parts about North-Hampton for wis-
dom, piety and works of charity : by her care he was trained up
in some Latin school, wherein he learned the rudiments of his
grammar, the which he improved afterwards by his own indus-
try to considerable advantage, so as he was able even in his
age to understand any Latin author as well as the best clerk

* An error for 1574. The true vear of his birth is said to be 1576. — Eds.

208 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan.

in the country that had been continually kept to study ; which
made it the more remarkable in the observation of some min-
isters, in whose hearing he was sometimes occasioned to read
something out of a Latin book, who, by his false pronunciation
gathered* he did not understand what he read ; but upon further
search and enquiry they found that he understood the language
as well as themselves, althO for want of school literature he
missed the true pronunciation according to the rules of gram-
mar to which children are exactly held at school ; and probably
after the decease of his parents he had not opportunity of that
advantage, so long as many children under their parents wings
[fai]led to enjoy it. But so soon as ever he had passed his child-
hood he was, by those that stood his best friends, perferrd to
be a page to the Earle of North-Hampton, under whom he had
opportunity to learn courtship & whatever belonged to civility
& good behaviour. With that Earle he tarried till he was ripe
for higher services, and then was taken by Judge Nichols to be
his clerk, who being his kinsman also, by the mother's side,
took more special notice of him ; and from him, being a prompt
young man, he learned much skill in the law, & attained to
such abilities as rendred him capable of performing a Secre-
tary's place, for he was known to have a very good pen, to draw
up any writing in succinct and apt expressions, which so far
commended him to the favour of the judge that he would never
have dismissed f him from his service, but have preferred him to
some more eminent and profitable employment under him, but
that he was prevented by death to put in execution what he had
designed for his further promotion. But by this time he had at-
tained to so much skill as to know how to live in the world, and
undertake businesses of considerable moment, as was well known
afterwards when it came to the trial. But before any opportunity
of that nature fell out, which called him to put in practice what
he had learned, or was able to do by his pen, he was called

* Mr Adlard prints, "false pronunciation altered." — Eds.
f Mr. Adlard prints, " assigned him from his service." — Eds.

1870.] LTFE OP THOMAS DUDLEY. 209

to attempt something by his sword ; for being a young gent°
well known in & about North-Hampton for his wit, metal and
spirit, when once there came down a press from the Queen for
the raising soldiers to go over into France, in the time of the
civil wars in Henry the Fourths days, the young lads about
North-Hampton were none of them willing to enter into the
service till a commission was sent down to this young gallant to
be their captain, and then presently there were fourscore that
were willing to list themselves under him as their captain.
With these he was sent over into France, which being at that
time an Academy of Arms as well as of Arts, he had opportunity
to furnish himself with such military skill as fitted him to com-
mand in the field as well as on the bench. The service that
he and his company were put upon in France was to help
Amiens, before which city the King at that time lay. But Provi-
dence so ordered it that when both parties were drawn into the
field, by some interposition or other, a treaty of peace prevailed,
which prevented engaging in any battle for that time. Where-
upon young Captain Dudley, perceiving that the King of France
was persuaded to put up his sword, and that the end of his ser-
vice was obtained without sheding of blood, he returned back
into England, having in this expedition learned so much skill
and experience in military affairs as might enable him the
better to manage designs of that nature, if he was ever like to
be called thereunto.

After his return into England he settled again about North-
Hampton, & there meeting with a gentlewoman both of good
estate and good extraction, he entered into marriage with her,
and then took up his habitation for sometime in that part of
the country, where he enjoyed the ministry of Mr. Dodd, Mr.
Cleever, & one Mr. Winston, who was a very solid and judi-
cious divine as any thereabouts, th.6 he never published any-
thing in print as some others did. By the ministry of these
men, as likewise of Mr. Hildersham, a man famously known, all
England over, by his writings, it pleased the Almighty to sea-

210 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan.

son this Mr. Dudleys heart with the saving knowledge of the
truth, so as ever after he became a serious Christian, a great
lover of religion, & follower of those ministers that either
preached, professed or practised it. And those ministers before-
named, of whom he was a constant hearer, being such as were
then called Puritans or Non-conformists, Mr. Dudley was him-
self also moulded into the knowledge & persuasion of that
way, so as he became a zealous asserter thereof, but yet so as
they were only sober, orthodox divines & Christians, that he
chose always to consort himself with ; for there was no man
that more hated fanatics and wild opinionists than he did, not-
withstanding he was so strenuous an oppugner of conformity
& the ceremonies of the Church of England, of which this
following story may be a sufficient evidence.

As he was once riding up to London, out of North-Hamp-
ton shire or Lincoln shire, that lyes more northward from Lon-
don, he chanced to meet with a gent n upon the road, with
whom he fell into discourse as they rode along. This gent" was
in a little time ready to open his mind to Mr. Dudley, and being
free of speech, intimated his dislike of conformity, and telling
him that it was part or the principal end of his going to Lon-
don, to move the Council Table for more liberty of conscience
and freedom from the imposition of their ceremonies. Mr.
Dudley was so well affected toward those things that he
profferred * him when he came to London to bear him com-
pany whither he went upon that design, & that he would to the
utmost of his power stand by him, to bring about any motion
of that nature. The remains of their travelling together that
day was wholly taken up with discourse of that nature, till
they came to the inn where they minded to lodge at night.
And that they might be better acquainted together, Mr. Dudley
was willing to lodge with him in the same chamber, althc> not
in the same bed, because he was utterly a stranger to him,

* Mr. Adlard prints, "he preferred time when he came to London." — Eds.

1870.] LIFE OF THOMAS DUDLEY. 211

saving what acquaintance he might have gained in the way.
And so they spent the evening in amicable & religious dis-
course till bed time, when they took leave of each other. But
after their first sleep & past the middle of the night, this
strange gent? being hot headed & full of wild notions, with
which his brain was so much overheated that indisposed
him to sleep ; this occasioned him to call out to Mr. Dudley to
see if he were awake ; and finding that he either so was, or was
willing to appear so, to gratify this his new friend, he p r sently
entered upon strange & sublime fancys, to the amazeing of
Mr. Dudley ; telling him that he was once persuaded that he
himself was the Messias. How ! quoth Mr. Dudley, like one
affrightend, what mean you by that ? I say, quoth he, I did
once really conceit myself to be the Messias that was to come
into the world ; and I do now still think that I am the King of
Jerusalem : with which words Mr. Dudley was so astonished,
that he immediately with the bed staff knocked for the Cham-
berlain to carry him into another chamber, and prepare him
another bed ; for, says he, here is one says he is King of
Jerusalem, and I do not know but before morning he may, like
John of Leydens, take me for one of the enemies of his king-
dom, & endeavor to assassinate me in my bed, as he did some
of his followers ; and therefore resolved to abide no longer
with him in the same room, as was said of John the Evangelist,
That he would not tarry in the same bath in which was Cerin-
thus,* the apostate and grand heretic. They that love the
Lord must of necessity hate evil ; and they that love his truth
cannot but hate error that is contrary thereunto. By this first
specimen of his zeal Mr. Dudley was the better prepared to
encounter with the enemies of the truth in after time. By
these and such like discoveries of his eminent worth and abili-
ties, Mr. Dudley began to be well known in those places where
his abode was, & by being a follower of Mr. Dod, he came into

* Mr. Adlard prints this " Con'cwfar." — Eds.

212 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [J AN .

the knowledge of the Lord Say & Lord Cornpton, & other
persons of quality, by whose means he was afterwards com-
mended to the service of the Earl of Lincoln, who was then a
young man & newly come into the possession of that Earle-
dom, with the lands & hereditaments that belonged thereunto.
The grandfather of this present Earle was called Henry, who
being a bad husband had left his heirs under great entangle-
ments, and his son, named Thomas, had never been able to
wind out of that labyrinth of debts contracted by his father, so
that all the difficultys were now devolved upon Theophilus, the
grandchild, who was persuaded therefore to entertain Mr. Dud-
ley as his Steward to manage his whole estate, who though it
were so involved with many great debts, amounting to near
twenty thousand pounds, yet his prudent, careful & faithful
management of the demesns of that family, he in a few years
found means to discharge all those great debts, wherein the
young Earle was so ingulphed, that he saw little hope of ever
wadeing through them all. But with Gods blessing on Mr.
Dudleys pains & industry, he was soon freed of them. And
another great and good service he did that family, by procuring
a match between the daughter of the Lord Say and this Theophi-
lus, Earl of Lincoln, who was so wise, virtuous, & every way so
well an accomplished lady, that she proved a great blessing to the
whole family. While Mr. Dudley was employed in this service
under the Earl of Lincoln, there was a notable accident fell out,
which discovered his eminent piety & prudence also ; whereby
he showed himself both zealous for the honour of God and
the purity of his worship, as well as politic to evade the subtle
contrivances of profane persons that intended to have brought
him into a snare in some bargain that was made about the
sale of some lands or parke, or some appurtanances thereof, by
the injurious drawing of the writings that concerned the pay-
ment of the money. The day assigned thereunto happened to
fall out upon the Lord's day. Now two Knights that were to
make payment thereof, comeing to understand how the day fell

1870.] LIFE OF THOMAS DUDLEY. 213

out, and hearing that Mr. Dudley, the Earle's steward, was
noted to be a strict Puritan, (with whom it was not usual to
meddle with secular affairs, such as was telling of money,
giving receipts, discharges, &c.,) resolved to try Mr. Dudley's
conscience, whether he could not dispense therewith in an
exigent of a great sum of money ; and to that end they deter-
mined to come to the Earles house on the Lords day morning,
bringing the money along with them ; Mr. Dudley perceiving
their intent, and foreseeing the inconvenience which might
follow if the money proffered should be refused. Mr. Dudley
therefore found out a device to be even with them & yet not
wrong his conscience in breaking the Sabbath ; for he told the
Knights that if they would needs pay the money that day and
no other, they might tell it out if they would (which was
their sin and not his). And, saith he, I will wait upon my
lord to the church, and then come back and wait upon your
selves. So carrying them into the great Hall, he directed them
to lay their money upon the table, and tell it over, if they
pleased ; which being done by that time he came back from
the church door, after his attendance upon his lord ; and then
finding the money ready told upon the table, he caused some
that were about him to turn the money immediately into a
a great iron bound chest that stood at the end of the table,
which having a spring lock the lid fell down and locked of
it self. Now, says Mr. Dudley, I must return to the church to
hear Dr. Preston, (who then preached before the Earl) and
for your money I will take your tale of it, and never trouble
my self at this time to tell it over again ; or if that like you not,
here is the key of the chest, which you may keep for your
security, if you please, till the next day, when we shall have
more leisure to discours those points. The Knights perceiv-
ing how handsomely they were caught, forthwith went with
him to the church ; and the next day one of them gave him
fifty pieces that he would not make them a country talk for
this business sake. Sometimes the wke are taken in their

214 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan.

own craft. By this instance it may appear that Mr. Dudley was
not fit for such designs, and the Earle finding him so to be,
would never after his acquaintance with him do any business
of moment, without Mr. Dudley's counsel or advice. Some of
those that overlooked his manuscripts found such an expres-
sion as this, not long after he left the Earl's family : I found
the estate of the Earl of Lincoln so much, and so much in
debt, which I have discharged, and have raised the rents so
many hundreds p r annum. God will, I trust, bless me &
mine in such a manner as Nehemiah sometime did, appealing
unto the judgment of God, that knew the hearts of all men,
that he had walked in the integrity of his heart before God, to
the full discharge of the duty of his place. Towards the latter
end of King James his reign, when there was a press for
soldiers to go over into Germany with Count Mansfelt, for the
recovery of the Palatinate ; when the matter was first mo-
tioned, the Earl of Lincoln, who was zealously affected toward
the Protestant interest, was strongly inclined to have gone
over with the said Earl or Count, and should have been a
Colonel in the expedition, yet resolving not to go without Mr.
Dudley's advice and company ; and therefore he sent down to
Boston, in Lincolnshire, where Mr. Dudley then sojourned, to
come forthwith to London, to order matters for this enterprise,
and to be ready to accompany him therein. Mr. Dudley knew
not how to refuse to wait upon his lordship, yet thought it best,
as well for himself as for the Earl, to take the best counsell he
could in a concern of so high a nature, not being unmindful
of what Solomon said, " with good advice make war." There-
fore he resolved with himself, in his passing up to London, to
take Cambridge in his way, that he might advise with Dr.
Preston about the design, who was a great statesman as well
as a great divine, at least was conceived very well to under-
stand the intrigues of the state in that juncture ; and he al-
together dissuaded Mr. Dudley, or the Earl, from having
anything to do in that expedition, laying before them the

1870.] LIFE OF THOMAS DUDLEY. 215

grounds of his apprehensions, on which he foresaw the sad
event of the whole, as did really soon after come to pass. Dr.
Preston, by reason of his frequent intercourse with the Earl of
Lincolns family, was free to discover to Mr. Dudley all that he
knew, and he improved it thoroughly to take off the Earle's
mind from the enterprise ; altho he was so far engaged there-
in as having shipt an whole troop of horse upon that account,
and one brave horse for himself, valued at four-score or a
hundred pieces, alth6 he were above twenty years old when
he was sent away. 'Tis pity he had not been better employed,
so as he might have answered the expectation of his lord and
owner.

At another time, when the Earl of Lincoln (who it seems
was wont to be very quick in his motions sometimes,) under-
stood that there was like to be a brave fight at the Hague, in
Holland, by reason of an interview of some great princes that
were then to be present ; it was but five days from the time
when the Earl had the first notice of it till it was to be put into
execution ; yet such was his eager resolution, that he resolved,
whatever hazard or cost he were at, he would be a spectator
there. And no body was able to direct in the expedition so well
as Mr. Dudley, who on the sudden he judged could so order all
matters belonging to the Earls retinue, that in two days' time
they might go from the Earles Castle of Semperingham, to the
Hague, in Holland, to be p r sent at that great solemnity.
When they came there, the Earl his spirits arose to such an
height that he would by no means address himself to court
the Count Palatine upon the knees, although he had been
crowned King of Bohemia. Mr. Dudley began now to think
that the Earls last error was worse than his first ; however,
he was forced to find out the best way he could to excuse it,
which he did to the Palsgraves satisfaction.

It was about nine or ten years that Mr. Dudley continued in
the Stewards place under the Earl of Lincoln ; after which
time, being wearied out with great employments, he was willing

216 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan.

to retire himself into a more private capacity ; for which end he
left the Earles family and hired an habitation at Boston, under
Mr. Cotton, with whom he became intimately acquainted ever
after. But it was not many years before the necessity of the
Earl of Lincolns affairs required his intermedling therein a
second time ; for he had been in a manner unto him as Joseph
was to Pharaoh in Egypt, without whose assistance he could
carry on no matter of moment : so that he was a second time
called to accept of the Earl's employment, wherein he continued
in a manner till he removed himself and his family into New
England. For upon his second employment there the times
began to look black and cloudy upon the Nonconformists, of
which Mr. Dudley was one to the full ; and upon that occasion,
when the enterprise for New England began to be set forth,
Mr. Dudley embraced that opportunity, and so resolved to leave
England and travel over the sea into the deserts of America,
that there he might with other Nonconformists enjoy his liberty
to the utmost of what he desired. Mr. Dudley was not among
the first of them that embarked in the design for New England,
which is the reason why he was not numbered among the
Patentees. But after the rest of the undertakers began to be
acquainted with him, they soon discerned his great wisdom and
other abilities, which made them pitch upon him in the second
place, after Mr. Winthrop, to be their Deputy Governor, when
Mr. Humphreys, who had married one of the Earl of Lincoln's
sisters, found himself so encumbered with businesses that he
could not be ready to come along with the rest, in the year
1630. After they arrived here Mr. Dudley was deservedly so
esteemed for his wisdom, piety, justice and zeal, that he was
always accounted fittest to be Deputy, when Mr. Winthrop was
chosen Governor ; till a necessity of gratifying some other of
the undertakers was adjudged necessary to prevent a spirit
of envy & jealousy that was ready to be borne in the minds of
others, who were not in like manner admitted to share in the
dignity of the government, which is so glorious a thing in the

1870.] LIFE OF THOMAS DUDLEY. 217

eye of all mortals that it is oft>times very difficult to allay
the spirit thereof. But when it was thought meet to make a
change, the lot of advancement fell in the first place upon Mr.
Dudley, who was the first that succeeded Mr. Winthrop in the
Governor's place, into which he was chosen at the court of
election in the year 1634 ; in which year there falling out some
occurrences of more difficulty than before, Mr. Dudley was in
a needful hour called to the government ; for in the case
that concerned Hocking, of ,* who was slain at Ken-

ebeck by some of Plymouth, Mr. Dudley differed from all the
rest of the Bench, and yet was concluded afterwards to be in
the right ; & peradventure, if he had not been so steadfastly
fixed to his own principles and judgment, but to have been
swayed by the byass of other men's inclinations, some incon-
venience might have fallen out ; for the person murdered was
one that belonged to the Lord Say, who was better known to
Mr. Dudley than to any other gent" upon the Bench, yet that
did not sway with him to alter his judgment, when he saw he
had reason on his side ; yet did he not passionately oppose
those that differed from him, but placidly bore their dissent.
Mr. Dudley's wisdom in managing this business will best be
understood by his own letter to Mr. Bradford, the ancient Gov-
ernor of Plymouth, though at that time another was in place.

" Sir,
" I am right sorryTor the news which Capt. Standish and other your
neighbors and my beloved friends will bring unto Plymouth, wherein
I suffer with you by reason of my opinion which is different from
others, who are Godly and wise amongst us here ; the reverence of
whose judgments causeth me to suspect mine own ignorance, yet
must I remain in it, till I be convinced thereof. I had thought not to
have shown your letter to any, but to have done my best to reconcile
differences betwixt us, in the best season and manner I could ; but
Capt. Standish requiring an answer thereof publickly in the Court, I
was forced to produce it, and that made the breach so wide, as he can

* Piscataway. — Eds.
28

218 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan.

tell you. I propounded to the Court to answer Mr. Princes letter,
your Governor, but the Court said it required no answer, it being an
answer to a former letter of ours. I pray [you certifie] Mr. Prince
so much, and others whom it concerneth [that no neglect or ill manners
be imputed to me] thereabout.*

"The late letters I received from England wrought in me divers
fears of some trials which are like to fall upon us ; and this unhappy
contention between you and us, and between you and Piscataqua,
will hasten them, if God with an extraordinary hand do not help us.
To reconcile this for the present will be very difficult, but time cooleth
distempers; and a comon danger approaching to us both, will neces-
sitate our writing again : I pray you therefore, sir, set your wisdom
and patience at work, and exhort others to the same, that things may
not proceed from bad to worse. So making our contentions like the
barrs of a castle, by that a way of peace may be kept open, whereat
the God of Peace may have entrance in his own time. If you suffer
wrong it shall be your honour to bear it patiently ; but I go too far
needlessly in puting you in mind of these things. God hath done
great things for you, and I desire his blessings may be multiplied upon
you more. I will comit no more to writing; but commending
myself to your prayers, I am your truly loving friend in our Lord
Jesus,

Thomas Dudley."

Newtown, June 4th, 1634."

By this letter it appears that Mr. Dudley was a very wise
man and knew how to express his mind in apt and gentle ex-
pressions, not willing to provoke others, although he were
never so confident that he was in the right ; *for by his wise and
moderate proceedings in the case, he satisfied their neighbors
at Plymouth, who thought they were injured by the unneces-
sary intrusion of the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts, in a
matter which did not really concern them, and maintained
peace at home amongst them that so much differed from him
in the case then depending before them. Mr. Dudley indeed
was not remiss in matters of justice, but severe enough; but yet

* The blanks in the MS. are supplied from a copy of this letter in Bradford's Hist
of Plymouth Plantation, p. 320. —Eds.

1870.] LIFE OF THOMAS DUDLEY. 219

when matters were not clear he was slow to proceed to judg-
ment, as most wise men used to be.

He was highly accounted of always for his wisdom in man-
aging of affairs of the greatest concernment, and therefore was
at the first called to be one of the standing council of the
Massachusetts, while that trust was put in the hands of the first
three, where it remained for several years, when it was arrested
out of their hands by the importunate striving of some gentle-
men of a more popular spirit, and so was afterwards shared
amongst all the assistants in common. And as the jurisdic-
tion of the Massachusetts has large experience of Mr. Dudleys
wisdom and zeal in many cases of moment and difficulty all
the time that he was able to steer the affairs of the common-
wealth ; so in an especial manner in the time of the familistical
opinions* that were broched in the country, Anno 1636, 1637,
when the countrey was in danger to have been over-run with
that sort of men ; but for Mr. Dudleys courage and constancy
to the truth, things issued well ; he being always found to
be a steadfast friend thereunto, & one that would not shrink
therefrom, for hope of favor or fear of enemies.

After our Hooker and his church removed out of the bounds
of the Massachusetts, Mr. Dudley, not willing to remove so
far from the center, took up his station at a nearer stand, viz.,
at a place then known only by the Indian name of Agawam,
since called Ipswich, and twenty six miles from Cambridge,
alias Newtown, his first seat ; but the country soon found a
need of his wisdom to help to- strengthen them, in that storm
of trouble that began to arise immediately after his removal,
so as the necessity of the Government and importunity of
friends, enforced him to return back two or three years after
his going away. The town he returned unto was called Rox-
bury, within two miles of Boston, where he was near at hand
to be counselled or advised with in any exigent; divers of

* Mr. Adlard has it, " fanatistical op : nions." — Eds.

220 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan.

which did presently appear after his return ; of him it was
verified what the poet saith, " Virtutem presentem odimus,
sublatam ex oculis quserimus invitis." At one time in the year
1641,* to accept the place of

he was chosen unto
kindness he met withal, yet comforted him

his coming to Roxbury,
it pleased God to take away his first wife, by whom he had one
son and four daughters ; the first of which four was, in her
father's lifetime, endowed with so many excellencies, as not
only made her known in the gates of her own city, but in the
high places of the world, by some choice pieces of poetry, pub-
lished with great acceptation, as may be seen by the testimony
of sundry gent" well skilled in that art, prefixed thereunto.
Of her may Solomon's words be really verified, — "though
many other daughters had done wonderfully, yet she excelled
them all." But to return ; the loss of Mr. Dudley's former
wife made way for a second choice, by whom he had three
children, the eldest yet surviving, who may be likely to inherit
his father's honor & dignity, as well as his name, place and
virtues. He was a man of a great spirit, as well as of great
understanding ; suitable to the family he was, by his father,
descended from ; and envy it self cannot deny him a place
amongst the first three that ever were called to intermeddle
in the affairs of the Massachusetts. He was endowed with many
excellent ability s that qualified him thereunto ; for he was
known to be well skilled in the law, for which he had great
opportunities under Judge Nichols. He was likewise a
great historian, and so could converse with the dead f of for-
mer ages, as well as with those amongst whom his own lot was

* The blanks are in the MS. Mr. Adlard prints, " in the year 1641, quickly after
hie coming to Roxbury," &c. The words "quickly after" are written into the MS.
by a later hand. — Eds.

t Mr. Adlard has it, " emerge with the seed of former ages." A few only of his errors
are noticed. — Eds.

1870.] LIFE OP THOMAS DUDLEY. 221

cast. He had an excellent pen, as was accounted by all ; nor
was he a mean poet. Mention is made by some of his relations
of a paper of verses, describing the state of Europe in his time,
which having passed the royal test in King James's time, who
was himself not meanly learned, and so no unmeet judge of
such matters ; but in his latter times he conversed more with
God and his own heart, foreseeing his own change fast approach-
ing upon him, which he discovered by a small parcel of verses,
found in his pocket after his death ; which were those that
follow : —

" Dimme eyes, deaf ears, cold stomach shew,
My dissolution is in view
Eleven times seven near lived have I,
And now God calls, I willing dye.
My shuttles's shut, my race is run,
My sun is set, my deed is done.
My span is measured, [my] tale is told,
My flower's faded & grown old.
My life is vanish'd, shadows fled,
My soul's with Christ, my body dead.
Farewell, dear wife, child 11 & friends,
Hate heresy, make blessed ends,
Bear poverty, live with good men,
So shall we meet with joy agen.
Let men of God, in courts & churches watch
O'er such as do a toleration hatch,
Least y* ill egg bring forth a cockatrice,
To pay you all with heresy & vice.
If men be left & otherwise combine,
Mine epitaph's — I did no hurt to thine. "

These were good ornaments to a gent 1 !, but that which
crowned all, was his sincere piety, exact justice in his dealings,
hospitality to strangers, and liberality to the poor ; which the
approbation that God himself gives of a man that shall be
blessed to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judg-
ment ; and commanding his family so to do, in order to obtain-
ing the good of the covenant with God himself. He lived to
a good old age, being full of days before he was called hence ;
when he was found as a shock of corn, that cometh in in his
season, being entered into the seventy seventh year of his age ;

222 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Feb.

his death happened on the 31st of July, 1653, at Roxbury,
where he was honorably interred. One of the ministers of the
coun[try] honored him with a small parcel of verses, both Latin
and English, in remembrance of his stedfast adherence to the
truth in the dangerous time of error, when many were ready
to turn aside therefrom.

(Indorsed,)

"The Life of Thomas Dudley,

several times governor of

Massachusetts Colony of New England. 1 '

In presenting these papers to the Society, Mr. Dudley stated
that his family were once in possession of other papers which
had been borrowed from time to time by persons professing
an interest in antiquarian pursuits ; and, he feared, had never
been returned. The most of these now presented to the Soci-
ety had only recently been recovered, after having been long
missing.

Yoted, That the thanks of the Society be presented to
Mr. H. A. S. D. Dudley, for the very valuable donation made
by him this day to the Library and Cabinet of the Society.

FEBRUARY MEETING.

A stated monthly meeting was held on Thursday, the 10th
instant, at eleven o'clock, a.m. ; the President in the chair.

In the absence of Mr. Deane, who was detained by illness,
Mr. Smith was appointed Recording Secretary pro tempore, and
read the record of the last meeting.

The Librarian announced the list of donors to the Library
during the last month.

The Corresponding Secretary read a letter of acceptance
from Pierre Margry, of Paris.

1870.] FEBRUARY MEETING. 223

The President read the following letter from our associate,
Mr. Norton, relative to the photographic copies of three letters
of Columbus presented at the last meeting : —

Villa d' Elte )

fuori di porta san gallo. {
Florence, Dec. 23, 1869.
Hon. Eobert C. Wlnthrop, President of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston.

Dear Sir, — I had the pleasure of sending to you a few days since
photographic copies of three autograph letters of Columbus, the origi-
nals of which are in possession of the Municipality of Genoa. I
beg you to do me the favor to offer the photographs to the Historical
Society in my name. I obtained them during a recent visit to Genoa,
at the palace of the Municipality, where, through the kindness of
Signor De Simoni, Capo Ufficio al Municipio, I had opportunity to
see the originals, as well as the book made by order of Columbus, con-
taining copies of diplomas, patents, and privileges granted to him, to
which he refers in two of the letters. The volume is in perfect pres-
ervation, and still remains * in una sacca di cordovano colorato, con la
sua serratura d'argento."

The story of this interesting volume is told, and its contents are
printed, in the well-known work entitled Codice Golumbo Americano,
printed at Genoa, in 1823, in 4 t0 . An English translation of this work
was published, if I am not mistaken, in London ; and I think that the
library of the Historical Society must contain a copy of the original or
the translation.* In this work two of the letters of which I have sent
you the photographic copies, are engraved in fac-simile, — the two
addressed to Niccolo Oderigo, ambassador of Genoa at the Spanish
Court.

I also send to you a little volume printed at Milan in 1863, entitled
" Lettere Autografe di Cristoforo Colombo, — nuovamente stampate."
This is of some interest as containing a reprint, asserted to be the first
(see p. 66), of the original Spanish text of the letter of Columbus to
Rafaele Saxis, announcing his discovery of the New World. The fac-
similes of the woodcuts that adorned the edition of 1493 give to this
reprint a special value, f

* The title of the English translation of the work referred to is, " Memorials of
Columbus; or A Collection of Authentic Documents of that Celebrated Navigator," &c.
"Preceded by a Memoir of his Life & Discoveries," &c. London: Treuttell and Wurtz,
Treuttell, jun. and Kichter, 30 Soho Square. 1823." —Eds.

t See " Proceedings " for August, 1865, for a notice of the original edition of this
letter, in the Ambrosian Library at Milan, of which a reprint is given in the volume
here presented to the Society by Mr. Norton. The letter is not the one addressed to
Saxis, hut that to Luis De Santangel. — Eds.

224 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Feb.

I shall be much pleased if, during my stay in Italy, which will prob-
ably be prolonged for some months, at least, I can be of service to our
Society, or to any of its members, in their historical pursuits.

With my best wishes for the prosperity of the Society during the
coming year, and to yourself personally,

I am, dear sir, very truly yours,

Charles Eliot Norton.

The President also read the letter below, from our venerable
Honorary member, Horace Binney, to Hugh Blair Grigsby,
which had been sent to him by Mr. Grigsby : —

Philadelphia, Jan. 6, 1870.

Dear Sir, — A kind Providence has brought me to and beyond the
day of the month and the age, to which you have been so kind as to
refer by anticipation.

Your most agreeable letter has by its very accurate recapitulation,
refreshed my memory as to nearly all the great public events of my
life, in which, however, I have had little part personally. I may have
seen some or all of the eminent men whom you name as actors in the
Revolution of 1776, and survived the Treaty of Peace in 1783, a few
years ; but the freshest of these recollections is of Washington, who
during nearly all the years of his Presidency, and at the end of it, oc-
cupied a house on Market Street, almost opposite to the residence of
my mother, on the same street. I saw the great man last in 1798,
when a student of law in my nineteenth year, when he came to Phila-
delphia to concert measures in regard to the provisional army, which
was raised to meet our angry relations with France. My own first
achievement in public life was the walking as one of the Philadelphia
Academy boys, in the Federal Procession of 4 July, 1788, to celebrate
the adoption of the Constitution, which had then been sanctioned by
ten States. Perhaps that march to Bush Hill has contributed to make
me a very strong Constitutionalist ever since.

What a review you have made for me, and what a happy memory
you have, to retain remarkable events and transactions in your view !
As you have retraced them to me, so have I been enabled to recall
them, dates and all. But many of them sleep with me until so recalled,
and I believe that, without exception, I concur in your view of all of
them, and of their bearing on your great conclusion, and in that con-
clusion also, as in your inferences generally, that no Anglo-Saxon

1870.] FEBRUARY MEETING. 225

people ever enjoyed such a long term of peace, prosperity, and honor,
as our country enjoyed from 1783, the date of the Treaty of Peace, to
1860. I shall preserve your letter, as the best summary or precis, as
the French call it, of the events, political and social, which have oc-
curred in the Christian era,, to substantiate the preference due to our
institutions, that can be made.

I thank you especially for your felicitations upon my arrival at the
age, the rather unusual age, of ninety. Mine has been a life of health,
not much abused, nor yet very carefully nurtured, but having the root
of a very good constitution, passed in wholesome country air and exer-
cise from eight to eighteen nearly, and all the rest in this city. I am
devoutly thankful to God for his many mercies to me ; and have a
strong sense of the kindness of friends who sympathize with me in
my present capacity to enjoy life.

Let me not fail to tell you that your letter to the Massachusetts
Historical Society # has given me great pleasure, as it must have given
to the members of the body, as it ought to give to all Bostonians. My
Boston half-blood makes me sure of this.

With great respect and regard, I remain your obliged and obedient
servant, Hon. Binnet.

Hugh Blair GpaGSBY, Esq., Charlotte Court-House, Va.

Thomas Carlyle was chosen an Honorary Member.

Mr. J. P. Quincy presented a fragment of a letter relating
to the battle of Bunker Hill, remarking as follows : —

" I present to the Society the first sheet of a letter giving
a contemporary account of the Battle of Bunker Hill. A
second sheet, which must have borne the name of the person
addressed and the signature of the writer, is unhappily want-
ing. There can be little doubt, however, that the letter was
addressed to Jeremiah Powell, the President of the Massachu-
setts Senate at the time of the Revolution. It seems to have
been written by a citizen of Newburyport, who had just returned
from visiting Mr. Powell at his estate in North Yarmouth.
The letter was given to me by Miss E. S. Quincy, who received
it, among other manuscripts that had belonged to Mr. Powell,
from the late John Bromfield, of Boston. It is not unlikely

* See " Proceedings " for June, 1869. — - Eds.
29

226 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Feb.

that the writer was his father, the brother-in-law of Mr. Powell,
John Bromfield, of Newburyport."
The letter is as follows : —

Newbury Port, 21«' June, 1775.

We had a hot, dirty, disagreeable jaunt home. The horse almost
gave out. We took our rout over Webster's Point, which is by far
the best road, & so escap'd Salisbury Sands. Do you take the same in
future. Experience we shall always find the best school mr [master].
I have now the pleasure to tell you, I found all friends well, & in
pretty good spirits, also that the news we heard on Sunday is not so
bad as represented.

It seems a body of our men (the number uncertain, say from 500 to
1000 men) Fryday last took possession of Bunker's Hill, entrench'd
that night, & the next morning got up five pieces of artillery. M r .
Cartwright was on the Hill Saturday morning & says the men work'd
exceeding hard all night & no refreshment had been sent them of any
kind ; that they were almost suffocated with dust & choak'd for want
of liquor. They expected to have been releiv'd early in the morning,
but no releave came, & to add to their distresses they found the Reg-
ulars prepareing to pay them a visit, & the boats hurrying about with
great velocity. Immediate notice was sent to head-quarters that our
enemies were in motion. General Ward order'd without delay several
regiments down to their assistance, & the two companies belonging to
this town, among the rest, viz., Mess" Lunt's & Perkins's ; as the latter
rec d . orders first he march'd down with all possible expedition & found
the Regulars had landed and our people on the hill actually engag'd.
Nevertheless he bravely march'd to their assistance, & was of emi-
nent service. He fired away all his cartridges, & haveing some loose
powder in his pocket, he was oblig'd to strip & tare off some part of
his shirt to make wadding of, & when he had fir'd away all his pow-
der he retreated without hat or wigg, & almost naked.

Stephen Jenkins behav'd with equal valor, & got himself much
honor, as did Lieut. Whittemore, who got a flesh wound in his thigh.
Another man in the same company kill'd two Regulars at one shott.
They were both in pursuit of one of our men to take him prisoner, but
death instantly seized them. Two are kill'd out of Perkins's Company,
& nine wounded (not dangerously). The name of one kill'd is Norton,
I can't learn who the other is. Lunt's company did not get up time
enough to do much execution, & retreated again, haveing only one
man wounded. M r . Little, of Turky Hill (who I have heard is lately

1870.] FEBRUARY MEETING. 227

made a col .) show'd great courage, & march'd with those under his
command, thro' two regiments of our men who were looking on at a
distance, but were affraid to advance, he set them an example, it seems,
which they did not chuse to follow — he proceeded till he found our
people retreating from the Hill, being overpower'd by numbers. He
cover'd their retreat & got off without much loss. He narrowly es-
cap'd with his life, as two men were kill'd, one on each side of him,
& he came to the camp all bespattered with blood.

Major Gerrish * was ordered also to Charlestown with a reinforcement,
but he no sooner came in sight of the enemy than a tremor seiz'd him
& he began to bellow, " Retreat ! retreat ! or you'l all be cutt off! "
which so confus'd & scar'd our men, that they retreated most precip-
itately, & our soldiery now sware vengeance against him' & determine
not to be under his comm' d .

We are not yet able to ascertaine the number of the enemy that
landed at Charlestown. The acco ts are from 3 to 6000. The number
kill'd of them is also uncertain ; some say five times the numb r . kill'd of
our men, & that ye number kill'd & wounded of the Provincials don't
exceed 100, which falls far short of the number reported at Kensington.
Thank Heav n . for it.

But the greatest loss sustained is the death of Dr. Warren, a main
spoke in the wheel of politicks at this critical juncture. He is univer-
sally lamented in the camp. It is said he rec d . a mortal wound on the
retreat & was offer'd assistance when he first fell, but declin'd it, saying
he had but a few moments to live, & told the man who offer'd his
assistance to go where he might be more servicible.

The man left him, & the enemy are in possession [The letter
abruptly ends here, the other part having been lost.]

Mr. R. Frothingham spoke of the interest of the letter, and
remarked that there are very few letters of this period contain-
ing snch personal references.

The President announced that a new volume of Collections is
now in press.

Dr. Robbins called the attention of the Society to the recent
petitions to the Legislature in regard to the Hutchinson Papers,
so called ; and thereupon Dr. Ellis, Judge Parker, and Gov.

* This name, after it had been written, was, by some later hand, nearly erased
with a pen. — Ed.

228 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Makjh,

Clifford were appointed a committee to take such action in the
matter as the interest of the Society may require.

Mr. Frothingham called attention to the valuable donation
to the Library, of a set of Hening's Statutes, from our Cor-
responding Member, Mr. Grigsby, of Virginia, through Mr.
Deane. The grateful acknowledgments of the Society were
ordered for this acceptable gift.

MAECH MEETING.

A stated monthly meeting was held on Thursday, 10th
instant, at eleven o'clock, a. m., the President in the chair.

The Recording Secretary read the record of the previous
meeting.

The Librarian read the list of donors to the Library for the
past month.

The Corresponding Secretary announced a gift from Thomas
B. Akins, of " A Brief Account of King's College, Windsor,
N.S." ; also, from Henry Stevens, two volumes, entitled " His-
torical and Geographical Notes."

The President read a letter from Mr. Edmund D wight, com-
municating a gift from his father-in-law, Mr. Joseph Coolidge,
of two volumes, being the " Report of the Commission of
Inquiry into the supplies of the British Army in the Crimea,"
and the " Appendix " to the same.

The President referred to a brochure on the table from our
Honorary Member, Count Circourt, entitled " Les Annales de
la Cathedrale de Saint-Paul de Londres, Par Adolphe de Cir-
court," — a review of Dean Milman's History.

Suitable acknowledgments were ordered for these various
gifts.

The President announced Part III. of the " Proceedings,"
embracing the months of September, October, and November.

1870.] PORTRAIT OF WASHINGTON. 229

He also noticed the death of our Corresponding Member, the
Hon. William Willis, of Portland, Maine, and paid a fitting
tribute to his memory.

Mr. Deane also spoke of the service rendered by Mr. Willis,
to the cause of history, enumerating his various publications.

Messrs. Thayer, Mason, and E. B. Bigelow were appointed
a Committee to make the annual examination of the accounts
of the Treasurer.

Messrs. Lincoln, W. G. Brooks, and Endicott were ap-
pointed a Committee to nominate a list of officers for the
annual meeting.

The President referred to a recent interview with our senior
member, Mr. Savage, who has been spending the winter in
Philadelphia. He seemed very feeble in memory, though
his bodily health was good.

The President then referred to a very noble full-length por-
trait of Washington, which he had seen for the first time,
within a few days past, in the possession of his friend Henry
E. Pierrepont, Esq., at Brooklyn, N.Y., and of which an
interesting account is given in the following note : —

Brooklyn, N. Y., 5 March, 1870.
Hon. R. C. Winthrop.

Dear Sir, — Agreeably to your request, I will give you in a few
words the history of my full-length portrait of General Washington.

My grandfather William Constable went to Philadelphia in 1796, to
sit for his portrait to Gilbert Stuart. He then saw in his studio a full-
length of Washington, which he was engaged in painting for the Bing-
ham family, to be presented to the Marquis of Lansdowne. Mr.
Constable admired the portrait, and prevailed on Mr. Stuart to paint
him another at the same time, while Washington was giving sittings ;
so that my portrait was considered by my mother as a duplicate of
that sent to the Marquis of Lansdowne.

I have Stuart's bill for the portrait, receipted by him in July, 1797.

Mr. Daniel McCormick, who was a friend of Mr. Constable and of
the artist, and who died in New York in 1833, aged 94, mentioned the
following anecdote to me in relation to this portrait. He said he met

230 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [March

Stuart with a turkey rug, and asked him what he intended to do with
it. Stuart said he wanted it for his studio. As he had the reputation
of being rather careless in the expenditure of his money, Mr. McCor-
mick said, " You extravagant dog, why did you not buy a kidderminster,
which is cheap, and would have answered as well ? " Mr. Stuart re-
plied, " McCormick, you will see some day if I have done right."

Mr. Constable drove Mr. McCormick to Philadelphia to see the
portrait, when it was finished. While they were looking at it, Mr.
Stuart nudged him with his elbow and said, " Well, McCormick,
what do you say to my carpet ? " — " You have done right," McCormick
replied.

From this jocular passage with his friend, it seems that Stuart had
taken pains to copy the turkey rug very accurately in the portrait, and
it harmonizes admirably with the other furniture he has introduced.
Indeed, many artists have expressed the opinion that Stuart had paid
more attention to the finish of the accessories and details of this large
picture, than of any that he ever painted.

General Lafayette called on the widow of Mr. Constable, at my
father's, in 1824. I was present, and heard him say while looking at
the portrait of Washington, " That is really my old friend indeed."

In the year 1853, there was an exhibition of portraits of General
Washington, in New York. I happened to be present when the vener-
able Lewis Marshall, of Kentucky, brother of Chief- Justice Marshall,
came to see the portraits. His attention was called to the portrait by
Wertmuller, which Mr. Irving has placed as a frontispiece in his Life
of Washington. He said it made Washington look like a Frenchman.
He was told that a portrait by Pine was reputed to be very like.
He said, " It did not look like him when I knew him." He passed the
portraits by Trumbull, Peale, Robertson, &c, without observation.
He came last to the full-length portrait, which I have since inherited,
and said with emphasis, " That is prodigiously like Washington."

I was then introduced to him, and he told me he had lived next
neighbor to Washington in Virginia, and " remembered him with great
vividness." He was much pleased with this portrait, and afterwards
addressed me a note confirming his opinion of the accuracy of the
likeness.

The expression of dignity and majesty in this portrait corresponds
fully with the character of this great man, as portrayed in history.
I am, dear sir, with great respect and esteem, yours,

Henry E. Pierrepont.

1870.] SPECIAL MEETING. 231

Mr. Deane made a few remarks on the volumes just pre-
sented to the Society by Mr. Stevens, and spoke of the value
of the copies of early maps, in facsimile, which accompanied
them.

The President said that the Standing Committee had ac-
cepted for the Society an invitation from our associate, Mr.
Richard Frothingham, of Charlestown, to meet at his house
on the evening of Friday, the 18th instant.

SPECIAL MEETING.

A special meeting of the Society was held at the house of
Mr. P. Frothingham, in Charlestown, on the evening of Fri-
day, the 18th of March, at half-past seven o'clock, the Presi-
dent in the chair.

In some preliminary remarks the President regretted the
unpleasant state of the weather, and the bad condition of the
roads, which kept many of the members at home that evening.

He read a letter from a gentleman in Bridgeport, Conn.,
offering to the Society the opportunity of purchasing the medal
presented by Congress to David Williams, one of the captors
of Major Andre ; the descendants of Mr. Williams proposing
to apply the proceeds of its sale towards the erection of a more
suitable monument to his memory.

As the Society have no funds for the purchase of such
memorials, no action was.taken on this application.

The President said, that a gentleman in Boston had spoken
to him of a copy of Mitchell's map, in possession of a family
on " the Cape," with the inscriptions upon it as given below.
The map, it is said, has upon it the famous " red line," as
described on Mitchell's map, which figured so largely in the
history of the negotiations between Mr. Webster and Lord
Ashburton, in 1842.

232 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [March,

" A Map of the British and French Dominions in North America,
with the Roads, Distances, Limits, and Extent of the Settlements,
Humbly Inscribed to the Right Honorable, The Earl of Halifax,
And the other Right Honorable, The Lords Commissioners for Trade
& Plantations.

" By their Lordships Most Obliged, and very humble Servant,

"Jn« Mitchell.

" This Map was Undertaken with the Approbation, and at the request
of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations ; and is chiefly
composed from Draughts, Charts, and Actual Surveys of different parts
of His Majesties Colonies and Plantations in America, great part of
which have been lately taken by their Lordships Orders, and trans-
mitted to this Office, by the Governors of the said Colonies and others.

"John Pownall, Secretary.
"Plantation Office,
Feb. 13* 1755."

The President was assured that the Society, if it was thought
desirable, could obtain possession of the map. Upon which, it
was voted that the President should endeavor to secure the
map for the Society's archives.

Mr. C. C. Smith was added to the Committee on the pub-
lication of the Winthrop papers.

Mr. R. Frothingham read a highly interesting paper on
" The Declaration of Independence," which is to constitute a
chapter in a volume by him, now in the press.

1870.] ANNUAL MEETING. 233

ANNUAL MEETING, April 14, 1870.

The Annual Meeting was held on Thursday, 14th April, at
eleven o'clock, a.m. ; the President, the Hon. Robert C. Win-
throp, in the chair.

The Recording Secretary read the record of the stated
meeting in March, and of the special meeting in the same
month.

The Librarian read the list of donors to the Library the
past month.

The Corresponding Secretary read a letter of acceptance
from Thomas Carlyle.

The President then spoke as follows : —

You are aware, gentlemen, that this is our Annual Meeting ;
but, agreeably to usage, we proceed with our regular monthly
business before entering on the more formal routine of Annual
Reports and Elections. Before we pass, however, to any thing
of a merely business character, it is fit that I should remind
you that, since we met last, two names on our rolls have
ceased to be the names of living members. One of them is
the name of an Honorary Member, who was the contemporary
and associate of Irving and Paulding and Sands and Cooper
and Bryant of New York. The other is the name of a Resi-
dent Member, who was the associate and friend of our own
Prescott and Everett and Sparks and Ticknor, and of others
whom I see around me.

The name of the Honorable Gulian C. Verplanck, LL.D.,
has stood, for several years past, first in the order of seniority
on our Honorary Roll. He was elected on the 27th of Janu-
ary, 1820, — more than fifty years ago. He died in the city
of New York, his native place, on the 18th of March last, in
the eighty-fourth year of his age.

234 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

Mr. Yerplanck was a graduate of Columbia College, and a
lawyer by profession. His life was, however, mainly devoted
to politics, literature, and works of public usefulness. He was
a representative in the Legislature of New York as early as
1814; and, after several years' service in that capacity, he was
elected a representative in Congress in 1825, and was a con-
spicuous and valuable member of the National Councils for
eight years. He subsequently served for some years in the
Senate of his native State.

His labors, however, during this period were by no means
confined to political subjects. In 1818, he delivered a lecture
before the New York Historical Society on " The Early Euro-
pean Friends of America," which attracted much attention and
passed through several editions. In 1821, he was chosen to a
Professorship on " The Evidences of Christianity " in the Gen-
eral Episcopal Seminary established at New York, and not
long afterwards published a collection of essays on " The
Nature and Uses of the various Evidences of Revealed Re-
ligion." In 1825, he published a work, well known to the
Bar, on the " Doctrine of Contracts." In 1827, he was as-
sociated with the late Robert C. Sands and with William C.
Bryant in publishing one of the earliest of our American Illus-
trated " Annuals," called the " Talisman," of which three
volumes were issued in successive years, and afterwards all
republished, with the names of the authors, in 1833. During
the same year, Mr. Yerplanck published a volume of his collected
" Discourses and Addresses on Subjects of American History,
Arts, and Literature." Many other Discourses and Addresses
were delivered by him in subsequent years ; and between the
years 1844 and 1847 he published an edition of Shakspeare, in
three volumes, with illustrations and annotations, which gave
ample evidence of his taste and accomplishments as an editor
and interpreter of the immortal dramatist.

About this same year, 1847, the Board of Emigration Com-
missioners was established in New York, for the protection of

1870.] ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT WINTHROP. 235

foreigners when first arriving on our shores, and Mr. Ver-
planck was immediately elected its President, — an office which
he continued to hold and discharge with great zeal and energy
until his death. He was connected, too, with many other
boards and bodies of a charitable or religious character, and
rendered valuable service to them all.

Nor did his literary labors entirely cease but with his life.
Besides the annual reports which he prepared for fifteen years
on the subject of emigration, and which were published in a
volume in 1861, his " Twelfth Night at the Century Club," in
1858, and his Address on the opening of the New Tammany
Hall on the 4th of July, 1868, — when he was eighty-two years
old, — afford ample evidence that neither mind nor pen nor
tongue had lost their cunning. He was active and vigorous
and genial to the last. He seemed to have something of the
strength and hardiness of one of those noble trees which
adorn the park of the old manor house on the Hudson, in
which he passed his summers. His leaf did not wither. His
ruddy countenance and flowing silver locks have more than
once recalled to me our own Leverett Saltonstall, the elder, as
we knew him here a quarter of a century ago, and he could
hardly have recalled a more cherished friend. Like him, he
was a man whose warmth of heart and kindness of manner
and earnestness of purpose endeared him to all who knew
him, and he will be remembered by them all as a man whom
it was a privilege to know.

The Rev. Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham, D.D., died in
this city on the 4th inst., in the seventy-seventh year of his
age. Among the large congregation which attended his fun-
eral, on the 6th inst.. at the First Church, of which he was so
long the pastor, were the officers and many of the members
of this Society ; and an admirable eulogy was delivered on
that occasion by one whom we are glad to count among our
immediate associates.

236 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

Dr. Frothingham was elected a member of our* Society in
1843 ; and, until his infirmities confined him to his house, his
presence at our meetings was as punctual as it was welcome.
He took a warm interest, and sometimes a prominent part, in
our proceedings. His impressive tribute to our lamented
Prescott, and his charming verses when "the Crossed Swords"
were transferred from Prescott's library to our own, cannot be
forgotten by any one who had the good fortune to hear them.
Nor shall we soon forget, I am sure, his last appearance among
us, but a few years since, when, his sight having already failed
him, he was led into these rooms by a devoted son, and paid
an off-hand but touching tribute to the eloquence of the late
Rev. Dr. Hawks, of New York, whose death had been on that
morning announced.

Of Dr. Frothingham, as a preacher, it hardly becomes me to
speak. I may be permitted to say, however, that of the only
two sermons which I can remember as ever having heard from
his lips, the texts of both, and the treatment of those texts,
are as distinct in my memory, after a lapse of more than
thirty, it may be more than forty, years, as if I had listened
to them yesterday.

And this leads me naturally to the very few remarks upon
his character and career which I shall venture to make in
presence of so many of those who have been associated with
him as classmates at school or at college, as pastors of sister
churches, or, it may be, as parishioners of his own church, or
as life-long friends and associates in theological or literary pur-
suits. To them it peculiarly belongs to bear testimony to his
virtues and his accomplishments.

Whether as preacher, as scholar, or as poet, — for in all
these relations he has enjoyed a high distinction in our com-
munity, — there was a force and felicity in his style, a pictu-
resqueness of conceit and imagery, a fervor and glow of
thought and diction, which made all his utterances impressive
and memorable. He spoke and wrote from the fulness of a

1870.] ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT WINTHROP. 237

warm heart and an earnest, noble spirit. Deeply imbued with
a scholarship and a learning which had rendered him familiar
with the best productions both of ancient and modern litera-
ture, his acquisitions only served to give richness and variety
to the illustration of topics of which his own heart and mind
were full. He occupied himself with no elaborate disquisitions
or abstruse philosophies, but poured forth from time to time,
from a rich storehouse of memory or imagination, sometimes
in prose and oftener of late in verse, such words and thoughts
as befitted the hour or the occasion. His heart seemed always
intent upon the events which he witnessed, and always in
sympathy with the joys or sorrows of those around him.

He had the strongest appreciation for the beautiful and the
noble, in every form in which they are manifested to the sense
or the soul, — in nature, in art, in music, in literature, in ac-
tion, in character. It has happened to me to be with him in
Rome, among the glorious remains of classic art ; and in Switz-
erland, also, amid some of those wonderful scenes of pure, orig-
inal, majestic nature. Frequently, too, some years ago, I have
chanced to walk with him, at his favorite hour, and along his
favorite path, across our own beautiful Common, towards the
setting of an autumn sun. Everywhere he was filled with
rapture for whatever was grandest or loveliest in the works of
God or of man, and few men have known better how to give
expression to such emotions. Not a few of his verses, whether
original or translated, have lifted the hearts of hearers and
readers, as they have lifted his own heart, in hours of trial or
of devotion ; and some of them cannot fail to have a perma-
nent place in the occasional poetry, religious or secular, of our
land.

I will not attempt to speak of the resignation and fortitude
with which he bore the heavy load of personal deprivation and
suffering, under which he has been withdrawn from us for
some years past. It would seem, to any one who has been
privileged to visit him during these days of darkness, as if he

238 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

»-

must have caught the full spirit of a stanza of one of those
inspiring German hymns, which he has translated with so
much feeling and beauty :

" Be brave, my heart ! and weary

Grow never in the strife :
The peace of God will cheer ye

"With trust and strength and life.
Be vigorous, not complaining,

And every effort bend :
This very day, at waning,

May see the conflict end."

Happily for him, the conflict has at last ended ; and it only
remains for us to do justice to his memory.

I am instructed by the Standing Committee to offer the fol-
lowing resolution : —

Resolved., That in the death of the Rev. Nathaniel L. Frothingham,
D.D., this Society has lost one of its most respected and accomplished
Associates, and that the President be requested to appoint one of our
number to prepare a Memoir of him for our volume of Proceedings.

The Resolution was seconded by Dr. Walker, who said, —
Mr. President, — In moving the adoption of the Resolution
I feel that the remarks with which you have introduced it have
left me but little to say.

Dr. Frothingham represents a class of clergymen more
common formerly than now, who are at once clergymen and
scholars, and who are drawn to the profession, in part at least,
by the opportunity it affords for scholarship. He was, I sup-
pose, more of a scholar than a theologian ; though his scholar-
ship was not without its effect on his professional studies,
especially in matters of history and criticism. He loved
books, and his mind was ever open to new truth, but he took
comparatively little interest in new measures ; indeed, he can
hardly be said to have had a single quality of mind or heart
fitting him to become a platform orator. I say not this to his
dispraise. Meanwhile he was an example to us all in the
faithfulness and painstaking with which he prepared himself,

1870.] ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT WINTHROP. 239

week after week, for the pulpit, where his success would have
been greater than it was except for the circumstance that
many of his felicities of thought and expression could only
be appreciated by scholars like himself.

Several of his hymns and other poems are not only ex-
quisitely finished, but breathe a profoundly devotional spirit,
and show that the author knew how to commune with God.
In general society there was often a reserve upon him which
some may have construed into coldness or indifference ; but
to his intimate friends his manner was singularly gentle and
tender and affectionate. This made him very dear to them,
and it makes his memory very dear to them.

Dr. Lothrop also addressed the meeting, and the Resolu-
tion was unanimously adopted.

Dr. Hedge was appointed to prepare the Memoir of Dr.
Frothingham for the Society's Proceedings.

The President presented a number of pamphlets from our
Honorary Member, Count Circourt, containing articles written
by him ; namely, the numbers of the " Annales Franc-Com-
toises," &c, for September and October, 1869, containing
" Memoires de Jules Chiflet, Abbe* de Balerne " ; the " Biblio-
theque Universelle et Revue Suisse " for April, 1868, and July,
1869 ; the former containing an article entitled " Le Journal
d'une Reine," being a notice of " Leaves from the Journal of
our Life in the Highlands, from 1848 to 1861, edited by Arthur
Helps. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1868" ; the latter con-
taining a review of a work entitled " Marie- Antoinette, Reine
de France, par James de Chambrier, 2 vols, in 8vo. Neu-
chatel, London, et Paris, Hachette, 1868 " ; and a pamphlet
entitled " La Confederation Suisse. Paris : Charles Dounoil,
Libraire-Editeur, 29 Rue Tournon, 1870. v The President was
requested to acknowledge the above.

The President also presented the Prospectus of the " Codex
Diplomaticus Cavensis," a publication proposed to be made of
one of the treasures of the monastery of La Cava, one of " the

240 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

once mighty and still splendid monasteries of the kingdom of
Naples." The Prospectus was transmitted by Count Circourt,
who says of these monasteries : " They have been threatened
with dissolution ; but, upon the unanimous voice of the lite-
rary world (Dean Stanley has been most active for their pres-
ervation), they have been spared, — not, indeed, as convents,
but as repositories of the national archives and as literary
institutions. . . . Now, they do endeavor to publish the in-
edited and almost infinite riches of their archives. Nothing
in the shape of ecclesiastical and canonic matters : the whole
relates to the civil rights, the legislation (especially of the
Lombard principalities), the general and provincial history,
the commercial relations and connections with the Mussulman
world during the Middle Ages. In a word, the mere reading
of the Prospectus will convince you that no publication could
be of more use to students than this one ; but the editors must
be helped. I wish greatly that, through your kind mediation,
some of the great literary establishments of your country
would subscribe to the Codex Cavensis. America has, of late,
done wonders in founding universities and collecting libra-
ries : few better occasions can occur for enriching these recent
and already opulent collections."

The President also read a letter from Mrs. Jules Marcou, of
Paris, a grand-daughter of Dr. Jeremy Belknap, addressed to
our Associate Mr. Ticknor, in which she speaks of an article
in the Boston " Daily Advertiser " of the 12th of March last,
on the subject of the " Boston Massacre," so called. In this
article reference is made to the testimony of one Jeremiah
Belknap, supposed by the writer to be the historian of that
name, as to what was witnessed by him on that fatal evening
of the 5th of March. Mrs. Marcou desired to correct this
statement, saying that Dr. Belknap at this time was a settled
minister at Dover, and that the person referred to was an
uncle of the historian.

Mr. Deane read a letter from Judge Henry F. French, of

1870.] AN ACCOUNT OF CAPTAIN F. LAHRBUSH. 241

Concord, Mass., communicating the article referred to by
Mrs. Marcou, of which he was the writer. In the article, men-
tion is made of a William Merchant, one of the young men
who was present at the affray on the evening of the 5th of
March, as being of a well-known family in Boston, and as
having descendants of great respectability, among whom was
the wife of Judge French. A portrait of Merchant, painted in
1755 — the family tradition says, by Copley — when the sub-
ject of it was a child, at the age of five years, is in the pos-
session of Judge French.*

The President, referring to a discussion before the Society
a few years since, as to whether persons said to have attained
the age of one hundred years were really so old as alleged,
read an account from the " New York Observer " of March
17th, of a banquet given on the 9th of March by General J.
Watts De Peyster, of that city, to Captain F. Lahrbush, in honor
of his one hundi'ed and fifth birthday. General de Peyster gave
a sketch of this wonderful man. The " Observer " says, —

" He was born in England, March 9th, 1766. At the age of
twenty-three he entered the British army. He was with Lord
Nelson when Copenhagen was taken ; he was in the battle of
Jena ; he saw the famous interview between Napoleon and
Alexander, in 1807, at Tilsit, on the raft ; he was shot in the
leg at Valencia, in 1808 ; he was on the field at Corunna,
where Sir John Moore was killed. At the battle of Busaco,
in 1810, he was wounded in the head and left for dead on the
battle-field. Afterwards he was in the army in South Africa,
and for three months was one of the British guard over Na-
poleon, at St. Helena. In 1818, at the age of fifty-two, he
sold out his commission in the army, and travelled extensively

* A second article written by Judge French, giving more full details of the genealogy
of the Merchant family, appeared in the " Daily Advertiser " (Supplement) of May 12.
In this he shows that the portrait was probably painted two years later than the date
given above, the subject of it having been born April 13, 1752. The error detected by
Mrs. Marcou, as to the identity of the Jeremiah Belknap mentioned in the former com-
munication, is also corrected. — Eds.

242 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

over the world, coming to this country in 1848, and taking up
his residence in this city, where he is enjoying the evening of
his days. Thus his reminiscences go back through his own
experience and those of intimates, to the days of Prince
Eugene and Charles XII., the 'Hero of the North.' He was
well acquainted with Blucher, who was a subaltern in the
Seven Years' War (1756-1763), in which Schwerin (compan-
ion in arms of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, and born in
1684) was a field-marshal. Thus from soldiers of high rank
(whom he met in Prussia in 1806-7) he heard stories of the
wars of the seventeenth century from the lips of conspicuous
actors therein. And thus by eye and ear he has seen and
heard the development of two centuries. It is wonderful to
reflect that this man, moving intimately and daily among us,
here present, drinking, eating, and conversing with us, con-
versed, ate, and drank with men who knew other men who
could relate stories of their own adventures when this city
was a mere Dutch trading-post, and at a date when the French
had as yet only established military posts along the tide-
waters of Canada.

" He is somewhat peculiar in his habits, rising at 3 o'clock,
A.M., and taking a light breakfast; walking out at daylight,
dining at 1, taking tea early and going to bed before 7 in the
evening. His mental faculties are as bright as ever. He
hears acutely and has good eyesight. His memory, even of
recent events, is excellent. He takes a deep interest in mat-
ters and things around him, and is a pleasant, genial compan-
ion. As he rose to leave the table, he said, < God bless you,
gentlemen ; I hope to meet you often on these interesting oc-
casions ; ten years hence, I hope we will have had ten of these
meetings.' He shook hands cordially with each guest, and
walked off to his home as spry as any one of the company.

" Captain Lahrbush deserves to be mentioned among the
most extraordinary examples of longevity on record. His
record is in itself remarkable, apart from his age ; and this

1870.] LIST OF OFFICERS. 243

extension so far into the second century of life, with his facul-
ties unimpaired, renders him perhaps the most remarkable
instance of longevity now in the world." *

The business of the Annual Meeting was now taken up.

Mr. Solomon Lincoln, from the Committee appointed to
nominate a list of Officers of the Society, reported the fol-
lowing names ; which were adopted by the Society : —

President.
Hon. ROBERT C. WINTHROP, LL.D Brookline.

Vice-Presidents.

Hon. CHARLES F. ADAMS, LL.D Quinct.

Hon. EMORY WASHBURN, LL.D Cambridge.

Recording Secretary.
CHARLES DEANE, A.M Cambridge.

Corresponding Secretary.
Rev. CHANDLER ROBBINS, D.D Boston.

Treasurer.
Hon. RICHARD FROTHINGHAM, A.M Charlestown.

Librarian.
SAMUEL A. GREEN, M.D Boston.

Cabinet-keeper.
HENRY G. DENNY, A.M Boston.

Standing Committee.

Rev. GEORGE W. BLAGDEN, D.D Boston.

Hon. JAMES M. ROBBINS Milton.

HENRY W. TORREY, A.M Cambridge.

THEODORE LYMAN, Esq Boston.

Rev. HENRY M. DEXTER, D.D Boston.

For the Committee.

Solomon Lincoln.

Boston, April 14, 1870.

The Reports of the Standing Committee, the Librarian, the
Cabinet-keeper, and the Treasurer were severally submitted
and adopted ; Mr. Mason, from the Committee on the Treas-
urer's account, having certified to its correctness.

* The above account had been sent to the President by the venerable Charles Cleve-
land of this city, who is himself ninety-eight years old.

244 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

Report of the Standing Committee, for the year 1869-70.

The Standing Committee would hereby respectfully offer their
Report of the transactions of the Society during the year just
ended, and the present condition of the Society, in accordance
with its By-laws.

The Society has so quietly pursued its way that there is but
little to mark its history the past year.

The regular monthly meetings have been held, and these
have been well attended, and with increasing interest. In ad-
dition to those held at the rooms there have been several social
meetings. The first was the regular June meeting, which took
place at the residence of the President of the Society, in Brook-
line, and the October meeting was held at the residence of our
Associate Member, Amos A. Lawrence, Esq., in Longwood.
Both of these were rendered the more interesting from local
historical reminiscences. Two social evening meetings have
been held. In December last, on the anniversary of the
" Landing of the Pilgrims," the Society met, by invitation,
at the house of our Associate Member, Robert M. Mason, Esq.,
where papers of an historical nature were read ; and in Feb-
ruary was a meeting at the house of the Treasurer, Mr.
Frothingham, in Charlestown, on which occasion he read an
able paper on the " Declaration of Independence." Your
Committee think these meetings have a good influence in
keeping up the interest of the members, and trust that ar-
rangements may be made to repeat them.

The duty of examining the Library has been performed as
required by the by-laws, and the Committee have the satisfac-
tion of reporting the same in excellent condition, every volume
being found in its place. For a more particular account of its
increase and its wants, we refer to the report of the Librarian,
which will be laid before the meeting.

The whole number of volumes, including the Dowse Library,

1870.] REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE. 215

is nearly 19.000, and the number of pamphlets exceeds
31,000.

The necessity of more shelf-room still exists : but we trust
the time is now near when, by the remodelling of the build-
ing, these pressing wants will be supplied.

The Committee have frequently had the subject of the alter-
ation and improvement of the building occupied by the Society
under consideration. The lease of the lower story will expire
in one year from this time, when it will be desirable to com-
mence immediately upon the improvement. Within the past
month your Committee have caused plans to be drawn by an
architect, with a view to ascertain the best mode of effecting
the object, and also the probable cost. With only rough esti-
mates it is supposed that the building can be enlarged and
made in every way convenient, and, so far as possible, made
fireproof, for about 822,000. This sum, we trust, could be
raised by subscription, and thus leave the present resources of
the Society untouched.

For the present state of the finances the Committee refer
to the report of the Treasurer, always clearly and definitely
shown, and which will in this case exhibit satisfactory results.

At the last annual meeting our Eesident Eoll consisted of
ninety-eight members. Four members have since been elected,
and the list now contains the names of ninety-nine members.
Three Resident Members have died during the year. Five
Corresponding Members and one Honorary Member have been
elected, while six Corresponding Members and one Honorary
Member have passed away.

A new volume of Proceedings has been issued during the
year, and another is in progress in the form of serial numbers,
four of which are now printed, and the transactions brought
down to the present meeting. Two volumes of Collections
are now in press, one of which is a continuation of the valua-
ble Winthrop Papers, and the other a volume of Aspinwall
Papers relating to Virginia. A volume of great historical

246 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

interest and value has been printed, being the course of Lec-
tures delivered by the members of the Society at the Lowell
Institute during the winter of 1868-69. Several papers of
interest have been read at the stated meetings of the Society
which have been printed in the Proceedings.

The Cabinet is steadily increasing in interest and value, the
details of which will be laid before you in the report of the
Cabinet-keeper.

The Committee are happy to congratulate the Society upon
its continued prosperity and usefulness. At no time has it
stood higher or been more useful to the community than now.
Its archives, always open to the public under its regulations,
are consulted more than ever before, and supply rich material
in aid of historical research. While we hold the rank of being
the oldest historical society in the country, may we strive to
be among the most useful and influential.
For the Committee.

William G. Brooks, Chairman.

The Report of the Treasurer.
GENERAL ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDING APRIL, 1870. \

DEBITS.

Frederick H. Hedge, Jr., salary $1,172.16

George Arnold 892.71

Insurance 404.65

Incidental expenses 484.76

City of Boston, Tax of 1869 685.00

„ „ Betterment 40.00

Printing 234.13

Binding 43.64

Coal 89.00

Appleton Fund 732.18

Massachusetts Historical Trust-Fund 269.57

John Wilson & Son, printing Lectures delivered before the

Lowell Institute 2,003.41

$7,051.21

CREDITS.

Balance from old account $325.90

Suffolk Savings Institution, rent 2,200.00

„ „ „ taxes 685.00

Amount carried forward ... * $3,210.90

1870.] treasurer's report. 247

Amount brought forward $3,210.90

Coupons, Quincy & Palmyra Railroad 80.00

„ Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad 80.00

Assessments 578.00

Admissions 40.00

Sales of Society's Publications 1,881.55

Hon. John A. Lowell, for Thirteen Lectures before the Lowell

Institute, balance 703.41

John E. Thayer & Brothers, interest 118.63

Sundries 1.50

Balance to new account 353.02

$7,051.21

The undersigned who were appointed a committee to ex-
amine the accounts of the Treasurer of the Massachusetts
Historical Society for the year ending April, 1870, have com-
pared the vouchers with the entries and find them correct, and
the balances on the ledger as follows : —

DEBITS.

Appleton Fund $133.20

General account 353.02

Cash 2,120.51

$2,606.73

CREDITS.

Massachusetts Historical Fund $1,762.43

The Peabody Fund 844.30

$2,606.73

Robert M. Mason, > ''

N. Thayee, I Com ™ Uee -

Boston, April 12, 1870.

THE APPLETON FUND.

Account ending April, 1870.

DEBITS.

Balance due the Treasurer $666.58

Benj. Bradley & Co., binding, &c 27.72

John Wilson & Son, printing volume IX. of Collections . . . 171.08

$865.38

CREDITS.

One year's interest of the Fund $732.18

Balance due the Treasurer 133.20

$865.38

248 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL TRUST-FUND.

The accumulation of income to September 1, 1868, was
$1,492.86, making the amount on which to cast the interest
from September 1, 1868, $4,492.86.

Account ending Sept. 1, 1859.

DEBITS.

Balance to new account $1,762.43

$1,762.48

CREDITS.

Balance of old account $1,492.86

Interest one year on $4,492.86, to September 1, 1869 ..... 269.57

$1,762.43

THE PEABODY FUND.

The Proceedings for 1866-67 and 1867-69 were printed
from the income of this Fund, and another volume is passing
through the press.

Account to April, 1869.

DEBITS.

Paid John Wilson & Sons, printing Proceedings $1,089.18

„ 412.62

Paid Benj. Bradley & Sons, binding 90.90

64.00

Charles A. Cutter 50.00

Balance to new account 844.30

$2,551.00

CREDITS.

Balance of old account $1,225.38

Proceeds of Coupons of September 750.00

„ „ March 575.62

$2,551.00

For an account of the " Dowse Fund," and of the " Property
of the Society," see the Treasurer's account of last year, no
change having taken place.

THE INCOME.

The income of the Society consists of an annual assessment
on each resident member of seven dollars, or, instead, the
payment of sixty dollars ; the admission-fee of ten dollars, of

1870.] librarian's report. 249

new members ; the rent of the lower floor of the Society's
building ; the sales of the publications of the Society ; the
sales of the " Life of John Quincy Adams " ; the interest on
the Peabody Fund ; a bond of 81,000 ; and a note of 81,000.

The books are sold at the Society's rooms. The total sales
the past year amounted to 81,881.55, of which 81,000.85 were
from the sales of the Lectures delivered before the Lowell
Institute.

In 1868, the Society received a legacy of 82,000 from the
late Henry Harris, Esq., one-half of which was invested in a
Coupon Bond of the Quincy & Palmyra Railroad Co. The
remainder has been invested in a Coupon Note of the Hanni-
bal & St. Joseph Railroad Co. Both securities bear eight per
cent interest, and are free of government tax. No conditions
were attached to this legacy ; and, if thought desirable, it may
be constituted into a permanent fund.

The proceeds of the Peabody Fund, the next year, will be
ample to meet the publication of the volume of Proceedings
in the press, and a volume of Collections may be printed
out of the general funds of the Society.

. Respectfully submitted,

Richard Frothingham, Treasurer.

Boston, April 12, 1870.

Annual Report of the Librarian.

The Librarian has the honor to submit his Annual Re-
port.

The accessions during the year have been above the average
number, and of a valuable character. They may be put under
the following heads : —

Books 550

Pamphlets 3041

Bound volumes of newspapers 10

Unbound volumes of newspapers 4

Amount carried forward 3605

250 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

Amount brought forward 3605

Separate numbers of newspapers 375

Maps . . . 30

Plans 3

Broadsides 49

Volumes of manuscripts 20

Manuscripts 21

Fac-similes of manuscripts 5

Manuscript maps 2

4110

Of the books added, 365 have been given, 78 have been
procured by exchange, and 105 bought. Of the pamphlets
added, 2720 have been gifts, 313 exchanges, and 8 bought.
There have been 64 volumes and 136 pamphlets (duplicates),
exchanged. These exchanges have been made, for the most
part, with other libraries, and. in making them the Librarian
has had the sanction of the Standing Committee. By this
means books which were wanted for the Library have been
obtained, as well as shelf-room, which was equally needed.
Of the Society's publications, 17 volumes of Collections,
5 of Proceedings, 4 of Lectures, 2 of the Catalogues, and
3 other volumes have been exchanged. There have been
received back into the Library, by exchange or gift, 32 volumes
of Collections and 18 numbers, besides 4 volumes of Pro-
ceedings. There are now in the Library nearly 19,000 vol-
umes, including the files of newspapers and the manuscripts,
and more than 30,000 pamphlets.

During the year there have been taken out 141 books, in-
cluding 11 pamphlets, and all have been returned. It should
be borne in mind, however, that the Library is rather one of
reference than of circulation ; otherwise the statement of this
fact might give a wrong impression of its use.

Mr. Lawrence has continued his gifts, having added, since
the last Annual Meeting, 50 volumes and 22 pamphlets, all
relating to the Great Rebellion. About one-half of these

1870.] cabinet-keeper's report. 251

were works published at the South during or since the war.
The collection in this department is now so full that it is de-
sired to keep it as nearly complete as possible. Every thing
is wanted that has even a distant connection with the causes
that led to the great and final result. Besides the more formal
and pretentious works, the aim is to save funeral sermons,
private memoirs, and other publications not widely known or
circulated, which relate to persons who took part in the war,
whatever section of the country they may have represented in
the struggle.

The Librarian refrains from repeating the complaints that
have so often been made by his predecessors or himself in re-
gard to the want of shelf-room. Almost every space now
available for books is in use, and it will«30on be necessary to
increase our accommodations. As the Standing Committee
have certain changes of the building in contemplation, the
Librarian does not enlarge on this subject, which has now
become chronic in the annual reports.

Eespectfully submitted,

Samuel A. Green, Librarian,

April 14, 1870.

Report of the Cabinet-keeper for the year ending April 14, 1870.

The Cabinet of the Society has received additions during
the past year from twenty-five different persons : otherwise,
its condition has not materially changed since the last annual
report.

Among the gifts worthy of special mention are a well-exe-
cuted medal in bronze, bearing likenesses of John Gough
Nichols, of London, and of Lucy Lewis Nichols, his wife,
struck to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of their
marriage, — Mr. Nichols being a corresponding member of
the Society ; the cradle of Gov. Joseph Dudley, from Dudley
Hall, of Medford ; a colored engraving of the Boston Massacre,
by Paul Revere, and a curious pencil-SKetch of the old build-

252 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

ing till lately standing at the corner of North and Union
Streets, Boston, including also some of the market-stalls,
made by James Kidder, of Charlestown, about 1818, — both
from William H. Keith, of Charlestown ; eight Confederate
flags, captured at different times and places by the United
States naval forces under command of Admiral Farragut, and
given to the Society by Capt. Gustavus V. Fox, lately assistant
secretary of the navy, at the suggestion of Mr. Whitney ; an
elaborately-carved war-club, brought from the Sandwich Islands
in 1797 by Capt. William Ballard, of Boston, and given to the
Society by William Ballard of Brooklyn, N.Y., through John
J. May of Boston ; a collection of sixty-seven engraved por-
traits of distinguished Frenchmen, from Mr. Whitmore ; a
framed photograph, colored in India ink, of the members of
the Society present at the meeting at the house of the Presi-
dent in June last, from Mr. Winthrop ; a portrait in oil of
Benjamin Franklin, from Miss Martha B. Wheaton, of Cam-
bridge ; oil-portraits of Gov. Joseph Dudley and Rebecca Tyng
Dudley, his wife, from their descendant, Henry A. S. D. Dud-
ley, of Boston, and a box containing gold and silver medals
and other valuable testimonials presented to Dr. William T.
G. Morton in recognition of his claims to the discovery of the
anaesthetic properties of sulphuric ether, from his widow.

There has also been placed in the cabinet the collection of
coins, &c, of Mr. Savage, which collection was referred to a
committee consisting of the Cabinet-keeper, the Librarian, and
Mr. Appleton, to examine and report on. Mr. Appleton, who
has made a careful examination on behalf of the Committee,
reports that " the collection comprises about two thousand
coins, medals, &c, in gold, silver, copper, bronze, tin, and
paper. There are also some relics of various kinds. A few
pieces of particular interest and value have been arranged in
a small tray and placed where they can readily be examined."

In conclusion, the Cabinet-keeper must repeat what has often
before been commented on in the reports of his predecessors

1870.] A LETTER OF 1776. 253

in office, and of himself, that the accommodations for the dis-
play of the smaller and more valuable articles belonging to the
cabinet are quite inadequate, and are such as to repress rather
than to encourage the increase of its collection ; and he again
expresses the hope that some means may be found to do justice
to the Society's possessions.

• Respectfully submitted,

Henry G. Denny, Cabinet-keeper.

Boston, April 14, 1870.

Mr. Lincoln submitted the following, which met with a
unanimous response : —

Col. Thomas Aspinwall, senior Vice-President of the So-
ciety, having declined being a candidate for re-election to that
office, —

Voted, That the thanks of the Society be presented to him
for his services as an officer of the Society for many years,
and for his valuable contributions to historical learning during
a long and honorable life.

Voted, That the thanks of the Society be presented to
Wm. G. Brooks, Esq., and Charles C. Smith, Esq., retiring
members of the Standing Committee, for their valuable and
efficient services in the discharge of the duties of their office.

Mr. Brooks, from the Standing Committee, spoke of some
plans which Mr. Harris, the architect, had prepared at the
Committee's request, in view of the contemplated alteration
in the Society's building. The subject w%s laid over till
another meeting. .

The President communicated the following letter which had
been placed in his hands by our Corresponding Member, J.
Francis Fisher, Esq., of Philadelphia : —

Geo: Town, March 17th, 1776.

I am convinced, my dear Friend, that 'tis unnecessary to give you a
circumstantial account of the occurrences w* have hitherto prevented
my acknowledging your two favors. You know me too well to think

254 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

it proceeded from Disregard, and I assure you it is not the effect of my
Indolence. I wrote some time since to T. Coxe, & have had the
happiness of two letters from him.

We are in daily Expectation of hearing some material News from
Georgia. Their apprehensions from several of his Majesty's ships
which lay in Savannah River with two Transports, containing, 'tis sup-
pos'd, about five hundred Men, were great & not without foundation.
Several Merchantmen had receiv'd a quantity of Rice & Indigo on
board & proposed to sail (contrary to Resolutions) under the Pro-
tection of these Vessels of War, when five hundred Carolineans were
ordered to march to Georgia & unrig them, but the Business was
dispatch'd before their arrival by some Georgians from the Country.
Soon after, many of the regulars boarded the dismasted shipping un-
seen, & when Cap* was sent to bring the rigging on shore &

did not return, the People began to be apprehensive of some trick, &
were confirmed in their suspicions by the report of two sailors who
came on shore. Some unarmed men then were rowed to the Vessels
to demand the Prisoners, & they were also detained ; the Georgians
then threaten 'd to fire on them from a Battery hastily raised with two
four Pounders, in case they refus'd to liberate the Prisoners, &
insulting Language from the ships was the Consequence. The Fire
then began, & the regulars declared by Writing that they w? treat
with any two men in whom the People most confided, & no others.
Such men accordingly went, accompanied with 12 Rifle-men in an
open Boat, & were fired on as soon as they arriv'd close under the
stern of Cap* Inglis's Vessel, but fortunately escaped with little or no
damage. A Brisk Firing then began, & a Vessel on Fire set adrift
among them, which in a great measure answer'd the Intent ; many of
the distrest soldiery were obligd to crawl in the Marsh w^ afforded
but little defence from the expert Rifle-men. The spectacle by all ac-
counts was a pleasing, horrid spectacle.

The Insurrection & Defeat of the Scots in N. Carolina, you have
no doubt been already particularly inform'd of.

The Inhabitants of Ch* Town are making all Preparations to re-
ceive the Enemy, & seem to wish a trial of their mettle ; they have
been extremely active in incurring immense Expences by military
preparations. " Common Sense " hath made independants of the major-
ity of the Country, & Gadsden is as mad with it, as ever he was with-
out it.

W? H. Drayton, has been judge, Counsellor, General & Com-

1870.] A LETTER OF 1776. 255

mander of a Ship of War, in the space of a twelve Month. What
may we not do, when led on by men of such universal Genius ? To
be serious, I wish TVe may not be disappointed in our sanguine Ex-
pectations, but I can't help fearing that we undertake matters, which our
abilities are incapable of carrying thro'. However, be the consequence
what it will I am determin'd to exert myself in defence of my Country
& of course in support of the measures adopted, & am only sorry that
the Power of an obscure Individual can be of little service. I have
been a Month on actual service, & have only been promoted to
Feugal-man (I believe I spell wrong) of a Company.

I was not much surpris'd tho' much anger'd at the ridiculous mar-
riage of that little simpleton K. I. * * # * * *
As for N. H.'s refusal of thirty thousand pounds &
being an honourable Mans Convenience, I look upon it as one of the
unaccountable accidents which are constantly turning up in this strange
world.

I heartily condole with T. Hanson ; the Bargain consider'd in any
point of view [torn] w? have suited him well ; tell the Major I will
assure him success if he will continue his attacks, only let him vary
the mode.

I hope Miss N. Bond is well. P. Smith is soon to be married to a
Daughter of Henry Middleton. As for Harleston I sometimes see
him, but have never convers'd with him ; his Father's Death has
thrown him into an immense Fortune. My best respects to your sis-
ters & my Compliments to my acquaintances in general. I am sorry
Franks is gone to Ticonderoga on my own ace!, glad on my country's.
My Gratitude to him & family is inexpressible & I entertain the
best sentiments of that dear Girl his sister. You need not let her
know this, for probably it [may] lay the foundation for what she is yet
a stranger to, Pride. I shall make no apology for this scrawl, but had
like to have forgot to mention that I am on a visit to George-town
where I soon expect to settle. Poor Biddle is dead ; his imprudence
got the better of his Constitution. A Gentleman waits Dinner for
me, I am therefore oblig'd to hurry more than I wish, to let you know
that with impatience I expect a letter from you to

W? Alex? Htrne.

(Addressed to)

M? W? TlLGHMAN,

Philad*

256 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

The following communication from Mr. Fisher, subsequently
received by the President, furnishes some interesting annota-
tions on the Hyrne letter: —

Philadelphia, March 10th, 1870.

To the Hon. Robert C. Winthkop,

President of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

My dear Mr. Winthrop, — I have been a little doubtful whether
I was right in giving the letter of Mr. Hyrne for publication. Its
reference to some of the early incidents of the war of the Revolution,
and to a remarkable act of hostility on the part of the Carolinians and
Georgians before the Declaration of Independence, which I have not
seen elsewhere, led me to think .it deserved preservation, as evidence
of the spirit prevailing in the region where it was written. I have
not at hand the local histories which would perhaps throw more light
upon the subject.

The letter was found among the papers of the late Chief- Justice
Tilghman, and, as well as I can ascertain, is the only one extant of
his correspondence with Mr. Hyrne. It should be kept in mind that
both were very young; Mr. Tilghman only in his twentieth year,
Hyrne probably a little older, as he was a graduate at our Philadelphia
College, of the Class of 1773. The name of Hyrne is not, I think,
now to be found in South Carolina, though it is remembered as one of
a family in the Georgetown district. There are also in our College
Catalogue the names of several Carolinians of that period, among
them that of John J. Pringle, afterwards a student at the Temple,
and a distinguished lawyer in Charleston.

There were a great many from Maryland, of which province Wil-
liam Tilghman was a native, and perhaps also Mr. Hyrne. He must
have been very familiar with the best society of Philadelphia, and
indeed his letter indicates that we had at that time much more social
intercourse with the South than with the people east of the Hudson.
I may add that I do not recollect the name of a single New Englander
settling in Pennsylvania before the revolution except Dr. Franklin.

Among the names mentioned in Mr. Hyrne's letter I may notice
that of Captain Inglis, commander of one of the British ships of war
lying off Savannah. He was a native of Philadelphia, a great uncle
of my wife's on her mother's side. He entered the Royal Navy when
a boy, and rose to the rank of Admiral, dying in Scotland where his
descendants reside.

1870.] LETTER FROM J. FRANCIS FISHER. 257

" Franks " was, I think, a native of New York, afterwards Major
Franks of the American army, and aide-de-camp of Arnold at West
Point. His curious testimony to Mrs. Arnold's innocence of all com-
plicity in her husband's treason may be found in the privately printed
preface to the Shippen Papers. His sister, to whom Hyrne makes
such a complimentary allusion, was without doubt Becky T., the witty
friend and correspondent of General Charles Lee (see his Memoirs).
She afterwards married a General Johnston of the British army.

Their father, David Franks, was a wealthy Jew of high social
position. He married, I think, a Delancey, and although his oldest
son was brought up, according to marriage stipulation, in the Hebrew
faith, his daughters made distinguished matches in Christian families.

Miss N(ancy) Bond became the second wife of General John Cad-
walader of the army of the Revolution.

P. Smith was Peter Smith of South Carolina, his wife a daughter
of Henry Middleton, holding for some months the presidency of Con-
gress after the death of Peyton Randolph in 1776 ; succeeded in his
chair by John Hancock, and in his place as delegate by his son
Arthur Middleton.

William Henry Drayton filled all sorts of public places- in South
Carolina, and was a good deal satirized in the Tory lampoons of the
day. See the privately printed poems of the Rev. Dr. Odell. His
memoirs were afterwards printed in two volumes octavo. He was
not of Drayton Hall (as I have recently seen stated), nor the ancestor
of Colonel William Drayton, distinguished in the army of 1812, and
afterwards in Congress, perhaps the last Federalist there.

Gadsden was of course Christopher Gadsden, afterwards in Con-
gress, and governor of South Carolina.

I commit the letter and my annotations to your care to present to
our Society, and use them as you please.

Believe me, with very sincere regards,

Most respectfully yours,

J. Francis Fisher.

Dr. Peabodt announced the Memoir of the late Alvan Lam-
son, D.D., as ready for publication ; and Prof. Parsons, through
Mr. Deane, the Memoir of the late Charles G. Loring, LL.D.

258 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Aran,.

MEMOIE

ALYAN LAMSON, D.D.

BY ANDREW P. PEABODY.

Alt an Lamson, the son of John and Hannah (Ayres) Lamson,
was born in Weston, Mass., Nov. 18, 1792. He was fitted for
college at Phillips Academy, Andover, and was graduated at
Harvard College in 1814. He held a high rank in his class,
and was even at that early age distinguished for maturity of
mind and character. Of the esteem in which he was held it
may be ample proof that he was chosen, on graduating, to the
office of tutor in Bowdoin College, then in its infancy, and,
while waiting for permanent endowments, seeking to sustain
itself in being by the infusion from year to year of the best
young life which Harvard could furnish for its nourishment.
He afterward studied theology at the Cambridge Divinity
School, being a member of its first regularly organized class.
He was licensed to preach in 1817, and on Oct. 29, 1818,
was ordained as pastor of the First Church in Dedham. In
1825 he was married to Frances Fidelia Ward, daughter of
the Hon. Artemas Ward. In 1837 he received the degree of
S.T.D. from Harvard University. For nearly forty years he
continued at his post, in the quiet, diligent, and faithful dis-
charge of his office, and with uninterrupted health. Then
came a season of prolonged illness and disablement, the
causes of which eluded medical skill, but from which he was
partially restored by rest and European travel. On return-
ing to his work, he found himself no longer adequate to the

oL-^L^siA^j

1870.] MEMOIR OF ALVAN LAMSON, D.D. 259

severe demands often made upon the minister of a large parish,
and a chronic bronchitis rendered the use of his voice in
preaching at times difficult and painful. On these grounds,
against the wishes, though with the consent of his parish, he
resigned his charge in October, 1860. He continued to live
among his people, in the kindest intercourse with them, and in
the enjoyment of their undivided reverence and affection.
With a mind undimmed and active, a serene and sunny tem-
perament, a cheerful home, and an entire freedom from care
and anxiety, he gave promise of a lengthened and happy old
age. But he was probably more feeble than he seemed.
There was, however, not the slightest failure as to mental vigor,
or as to the capacity of enjoyment and of ministering to the
happiness of others, and only the very gentlest decline of
bodily strength, till within a few days of his death. He died,
after a brief illness, painlessly and calmly, on the 18th of
July, 1864.

Dr. Lamson was pre-eminently a scholar. Well read in the
classics,- and versed in the methods and results of biblical
criticism, he devoted himself chiefly to the study of the Chris-
tian Fathers and Christian Archaeology. In these departments
of learning he was conversant with original authorities, and was
himself an always safe authority to those who could not or
would with him seek the fountains. At the same time he was
a man of general culture, familiar with the best literature of
his own tongue and day.

He was indefatigably industrious. Faithful in the discharge
of his professional duty, he wasted no time in its conventional
routine ; but gave to his books all the time he could command,
and regarded himself as most truly serving his people by ren-
dering himself more fit to serve them.

His style was marked by precision, simplicity, and purity.
It was never diffuse or feeble, and at times it was characterized
by rare terseness and energy, especially in controversy. Not
that he loved or sought controversy. He was one of the most

260 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

peaceful of men. But when circumstances or a paramount
sense of duty forced him into the lists, he used his pen as one
who meant to lay it down speedily, yet not till it had done full
execution.

As a preacher, he was not popular in the lower sense of the
word ; but he sustained throughout his ministry a reputation
among the foremost of his coevals for sound and vigorous
thought, elegant diction, profound seriousness of aim and pur-
pose, and the capacity equally of instruction and edification.
He was always listened to with interest, and his sermons were
most prized by the wisest and best men. It would be difficult
to imagine that he should ever have written a feeble, slovenly,
or unprofitable sermon. His parish contained many persons
of superior position, intelligence, and culture, and he was
never held by them in higher estimation than wjien he was
compelled to resign his charge.

In private life he was genial, amiable, kind, hospitable.
He can have had no enemy ; and, though retiring in his habits,
he had many loving and warmly devoted friends. His man-
ners had a little of the formality of the old school of gentle-
men, but at the same time the winning grace, the heart-felt
courtesy, and the careful consideration for others, that belonged
to the highest type of that school. In purity and integrity, in
assiduous diligence, in meekness and charity, in a life of un-
ostentatious sanctity, he adorned the religion he preached, and
has left a memory which will be tenderly cherished, not alone
by his few surviving coevals, but by none more than by those
who first knew him when with the ripeness of venerable years
he blended the modest simplicity of ingenuous youth.

Dr. Lamson's principal publications were a volume of Ser-
mons, Boston, 1857 ; and a work entitled " The Church of
the First Three Centuries ; or, Notices of the Lives and Opin-
ions of the Early Fathers, with Special Reference to the Doc-
trine of the Trinity ; illustrating its late Origin and gradual
Formation," Boston, 1860.

1870.] MEMOIR OF ALVAN LAMSON, I>.D. 261

This last is a work of very profound research ; and, though
the author's conclusions are open to grave doubt and serious
discussion, the affluence of his learning, and his candor in the
presentation of authorities adverse no less than favorable to
his own opinions, will be admitted by none more readily than
by his intelligent antagonists.

Besides these volumes, Dr. Lamson published very numerous
occasional sermons, and was for many years a frequent con-
tributor to the " Christian Examiner.' '

LIST OF THE PUBLICATIONS OF DR. LAMSON.

Sermons. 12mo. pp. 424. 1857.

The Church of the First Three Centuries : or, Notices of the Lives and
Opinions of some of the Early Fathers, with special reference to the
Doctrine of the Trinity : illustrating its late Origin and gradual Forma-
tion. 8vo. pp. 352. 1860.

Second Edition of the same, revised and enlarged ; edited by Ezra Abbot.
8vo. pp. 410. 1865.

Pamphlets.

Sermon on the Adaptation of Christianity. 1825.

Remarks on the Genius and Writings of Soame Jenyns, and on the Internal
Evidences of Christianity. 1826.

Sermon preached at the Ordination of Rev. Charles C. Sewall, at Danvers,
1827.

Discourse at the Dedication of Bethlehem Chapel, Augusta, Maine, 1827.

Discourse on the Validity of Congregational Ordination, (Dudleian Lecture,
1834).

Sermon on the Sin against the Holy Ghost. 1835.

A History of the First Church and Parish in Dedham, in three Discourses,
delivered Nov. 29, and Dec. 2, 1838 ; published in 1839.

A Discourse delivered on the day of the National Fast on occasion of the
Death of President Harrison, 1841.

Congregationalism. A Discourse delivered before the Massachusetts Con-
vention of Congregational Ministers, 1846.

The Memory of John Robinson. A Discourse delivered at Dedham, Sun-
day, Dec. 21, 1851.

Impressions of Men and Things Abroad. A Sermon preached at Dedham,
Sept. 11, 1853, after an absence of some months in Europe.

Agricultural Life in some of its Intellectual Aspects. An Address delivered
before the Norfolk Agricultural Society, Sept. 30, 1857.

262 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

A Sermon preached Oct. 31, 1858, the Sunday after the Fortieth Anniversary

of his Ordination.
A Discourse preached Oct. 28, 1860, on Resigning the Pastoral Charge of

the First Church and Parish in Dedham, after a Ministry of Forty-two

Years.

Funeral Sermons.

On Ebenezer Fisher, Jr., 1847.
,, Mrs. Mary Dean, 1851.
„ Rev. John White, 1852.
,, John Endicott, 1857.
,, Hon. James Richardson, 1858.

Tracts (Unitarian).

On the Doctrine of Two Natures in Jesus Christ. 1st Series, No. 20. (Re-
printed in England.)

On the Foundation of our Confidence in "the Saviour. 1st Series, No. 89.
(Reprint of Sermon at Ordination of C C. Sewall.)

On Earnestness in Religion. 1st Series, No. 188.

What is Unitarianism ? 1st Series, No. 202. (Reprint, after revision, of
the article on ''Unitarian Congregationalists," in Rupp's " History of all
the Religious Denominations in the United States. 1 ')

In 1830 and 1831, Dr. Lamson, with Rev. S. Barrett, edited the "Uni-
tarian Advocate," Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, New Series.

In 1835, with Rev. Geo. Ripley, he edited the " Boston Observer."
From January, 1844, to May, 1849, with Rev. Dr. Gannett, he edited the
" Christian Examiner."

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 263

MEMOIR

CHARLES GREELY LORING.

BY THEOPHILUS PARSONS.

Mr. Losing was born in Boston, on the second of May, 1Y94.
His father, the Hon. Caleb Loring, was an eminent merchant.
His mother, Anne Greely, was a daughter of Captain John
Greely, who was killed while defending his ship, a letter-of-
marque, against an English frigate, near Marblehead, in the
War of Independence. It may be mentioned as an interesting
incident, that the commander of the frigate sent his body and
his sword to his family, with a letter expressing admiration of
his gallantry and courage. Mr. Loring' s paternal ancestors
were among the earliest settlers at Plymouth, whence they soon
removed to Hull, and thence to Boston.

He was during his whole life a citizen of Boston. After
attending some private schools, he went to the public Latin
School, left it as a medal scholar, entered Harvard College as
a Sophomore in 1809, and was graduated in 1812. His high
position in his class was shown by his having assigned to him,
at graduation, the Latin salutatory oration.

He went at once to Litchfield ; and there, in the Law School
in that town, prosecuted his legal studies. His room-mate was
Peleg Sprague, who had been his classmate in college. Be-
tween Mr. Loring and this excellent and eminent man an
affectionate friendship grew up, which never knew an interrup-
tion.

264 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [APRIL,

Mr. Loring completed his professional studies in the office
of the Hon. Samuel Hubbard, who was afterwards a Justice of
the Supreme Judicial Court of this State. At that time three
years of study were required in this State for admission as an
attorney, who was not permitted to argue cases ; after two years
more the student became a counsellor of the court of Common
Pleas, in which he could then act as advocate ; and in two years
more he became a counsellor of the Supreme Court. Mr. Hub-
bard was compelled to abandon his business for a time by the ill-
ness of his wife, while Mr. Loring was in his office ; and, although
only a student, he was selected by Mr. Hubbard and deputed
to take charge of his business ; and at his request, and with
the consent of his clients, Mr. Loring argued several of Mr.
Hubbard's cases before the Supreme Court.

He was admitted as an attorney in 1815, as counsellor below
in 1817, and as full counsellor in 1819. In 1816 he formed a
partnership with his classmate, Franklin Dexter, which con-
tinued until 1819, when Mr. Dexter was associated with the
Hon. William Prescott, to whose daughter he was affianced.

Mr. Loring would sometimes speak of his early professional
career, as if his progress had been slow. But I was admitted
to the bar in 1819, four years after him ; my office was near
his, and I used to think that his office was full of business.
Indeed it still seems to me that Mr. Loring came almost at
once into a large business of the best kind. I have known no
instance of a young man acquiring so soon and holding so
firmly a wide clientage of the most valuable character. There
were many causes for this, some of which lay outside of him-
self. His substitution for Mr. Hubbard was useful ; and his
family friendships gave him assistance. The coming into his
hands, at an early stage of his career, of interesting cases in
which he met with success, was very helpful. But none of
these things can do more than help a young man. Often in
the biographies of eminent lawyers we read of this or that
" accident," as it seems and is called, which lifted them into

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 265

notice and began a long course of prosperity. But such acci-
dents lie in wait for most men who are ready to profit by them.
Life is full of these favorable circumstances ; but it is not full
of instances in which they are turned to the best account. If
they are not, they pass out of notice and are forgotten. But,
if they are used as they may be used, to lead not merely to an
immediate result, but to a success which is not a fruit plucked
for to-day but a seed sown to grow and bear its own fruits in
long succession, then they are remembered by the man himself
and by others, and are referred to as the cause of a prosperity
of which they were only the occasion and the means. I do
but present the same thought in other words, when I say that
the most favorable circumstances can do no more for a young
man than give him an opportunity of showing himself as he
is. In fact they compel him to show himself as he is ; for, if
he fails to improve the opportunity, this failure shows him to
be wanting in some of the elements of character which are
needed to insure success.

How was it with Mr. Loring ? He brought to the bar good
sense ; that kind and measure of learning which is the neces-
sary result of patient, earnest, and intelligent study under good
instruction ; the capacity and the habit of industry, or rather
of sustained, persistent energy ; a strong and constant sense
of fidelity to all duty ; and unfailing courage. It was well for
him that propitious circumstances came to him s6on after his
entrance into the profession. But if they had not come to him,
he would have found them, or made them. To a man so well
fitted for usefulness in his profession, the question of success
was only a question of time and manner ; at some time and in
some way it was sure to come.

Mr. Loring was a clear and cogent reasoner. I do not say
that he possessed remarkable logical power. But he saw with
distinctness the reasons which had led him to a conclusion,
and was able to present them to others with equal distinct-
ness.

266 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

He was not eloquent, and never sought to be. No one knew
better how very small a part of the common civil cases tried
in court are in any degree dependent upon what is commonly
called eloquence ; by which I mean a successful appeal to the
passions or emotions. There is, indeed, a true forensic elo-
quence, by which I now mean a distinct and vivid presentation
to the mind of the tribunal of all the facts and principles of a
case, so stated that they cannot but be clearly seen, and so
arranged as to support each other and lead by an unbroken
progress to the desired conclusion. In this eloquence he cer-
tainly was not deficient.

His arguments were unusually long. He spoke from a well-
prepared brief, and was careful to omit nothing which seemed
to him to belong to the case. But he held the attention of
the court or jury to the end. I think this was caused mainly
by his own earnestness. He was zealous for the interests of
his clients, and never concealed his zeal. He always thought
he ought to succeed, and it was evident that he labored so
strenuously because he thought so. It was impossible that
this firm conviction should not exert a strong influence upon a
jury, and often awake in them a conviction in sympathy with
his own.

It always seemed to me that, if he had been disposed to
cultivate the eloquence of the passions, he could have done so
with much success. Touches of it were not unknown to those
who were in the habit of conversing with him on topics in
which he took a deep interest. His strong convictions, his
warmth of feeling, his readiness and clearness of expression, —
all would have helped him. I may be wrong in this, and cer-
tainly am, if he was right in one of his own most decided
opinions ; for this was, that he had no power of eloquence
whatever. I could not quite agree in this, if only from having
witnessed one striking instance to the contrary. Very many
years ago, I was with him in an action against an insurance
company. The plaintiff, an Italian, had insured against fire,

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 267

for $10,000, a large collection of very beautiful works of art.
These were stored in the dwelling-house in which he lived with
his wife and family. A fire broke out, and the articles were
nearly destroyed ; and the wife and children of the plaintiff
were saved with difficulty. One of the points taken in defence
was a suggestion, resting on no evidence, that he set fire to the
house to get the insurance money. Mr. Loring, as senior
counsel, closed the argument for the plaintiff; and the way in
which he dealt with that suggestion, as charging upon the
plaintiff, with an utter wantonness of accusation, the great
crime of exposing his wife and children to imminent danger
of a fearful death, merely to recover by this fraud a sum which
was not shown to be larger than a sale of the goods would
have brought him, convinced me that he had or might have
acquired the faculty of passionate and powerful eloquence. I
remember that the jury returned their verdict almost at once,
and gave the plaintiff the utmost he could claim under the
policy of insurance.

I must not omit to notice one part of his practice, which is
large with all eminent lawyers, and was very large with him ;
that of giving opinions on cases presented to him. For this
he was eminently qualified. Learning, a thorough understand-
ing of the principles of law, industry, patience, and caution,
all combined to give value to his opinions, and confidence in
them to his clients and the community. ,

At that time the division of labor among lawyers was not,
perhaps, so great as it is now, and it is not now well defined.
Mr. Loring's cases and business were of all kinds, and in all
he was successful. But there were two important branches in
which he certainly had no superior, if indeed, for many years,
he had a rival. These were the law of marine insurance, and
the law of real property.

From 1825 to 1855, he was in full practice in the courts of
Massachusetts, and in the United States Courts for this circuit.
The published reports of decisions will show that, taking this

268 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [A#RIL,

whole period of thirty years together, no other man had so
large a number of cases in court ; and of the cases of no other
was the proportion so large of those which, by the novelty of
the questions they raise, or of the peculiar circumstances to
which they require the application of acknowledged principles,
may be considered as establishing new law, or giving new
scope and meaning to recognized law.

It must not be forgotten that, through nearly the whole of
his most laborious and most successful career, he was impeded
by ill health, or would have been impeded but for his resolute,
determined energy. What was enough to have doomed a weak
man to inactivity, and to have greatly marred the work of a
man of common strength of character, seemed not to obstruct
or even diminish his usefulness or success. For many years
he was subject to attacks of dyspepsia, and of rheumatism
or neuralgia, which, not unfrequently, increased in violence
until they incapacitated him for a time for all labor. Always,
however, when they remitted, he would seem to have with
returning health the power of labor so intense as to make up for
all the time he had lost. So early as while he was a student
in Litchfield, he suffered much from weakness and pain in his
eyes. At a later period his ailments seemed to settle upon
those organs. He was driven for a short period into utter
darkness, but even then did something through the eyes of
another. From 1832 to 1840, while in full professional
business, he was obliged to employ persons to read to him
and write for him. His sight became good, or good enough
for much more use in later than in his earlier years. But
his eyes never recovered their full strength, and he was often
obliged to seek the aid of an amanuensis.

His capacity for labor was great, and his energy seemed to
be inexhaustible. But there were times when all gave way
under the heavy load that pressed upon him. For example :
about the year 1828, a commercial crisis brought many mer-
chants and traders to bankruptcy. We had then no bankrupt

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 269

law, and all insolvency was worked out through voluntary
assignments. These were confidential, and must be made almost
always at night to avoid the interference of attachments until
they were completed ; often without previous notice and after a
hard day's work ; and they were long and complicated instru-
ments, as they were necessarily adapted to the peculiar exigen-
cies of each case, and must be made with great and minute
care. Mr. Loring had a large proportion of all this business.
One evening he came home to draft these instruments for
three different firms. He opened the doors between his par-
lors, placed clerks at each of three tables as distant from each
other as the rooms permitted, and, walking from one to the
other, dictated in turn to each of them ; and in the morning
all the instruments for the three firms, each in three parts,
were finished. Such nights as these were followed by laborious
days. But under this pressure he broke down. Still he con-
tinued until, as he said, on going home from his office one
evening, he could not find his way, but was obliged to ask
from those' he met a direction to his own house. Then he gave
up and rested from all business for a time ; but even then only
long enough to enable him to resume it with justice and safety
to his clients.

He was in the habit of taking very full notes at the trial of
his cases, and of writing out his arguments — generally by
dictation — almost at length. It seemed, however, as if this
exercise fastened what he would say upon his memory ; and in
speaking he made little use of his notes, reading from them
only what witnesses had said.

Before he reached the age of sixty, in 1854, he had aban-
doned much of his lesser business, declining a large part of
what was pressed upon him, but was still exceedingly occupied
with the important work which poured into his hands, and
abated no jot of his energy or faithfulness in what he did. But
in that year he was offered the position of Actuary of the Mas-
sachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company. This office he

270 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

accepted and held until his death. It was thought, I believe,
a wise selection on the part of that corporation. It was well
for them and well for him that he accepted the place. If it
did no more for him, it gave him the relief of a change of
occupation. It substituted employment of a regular kind, sel-
dom oppressing him by its accumulation, for the professional
work, which must sometimes require a long-continued and ex-
hausting tension of thought and effort

He did not, and perhaps he could not, leave at once all his
business behind him. Some old cases he must still argue ; a
part of them before the Supreme Court in Washington. Clients
who were also friends, and he had many such, brought their
difficulties to him. He did not try new cases in court, and
avoided what he could of the labor of giving opinions or advice,
but nevertheless was much occupied in this way ; and this prac-
tice he continued to some extent, almost on the compulsion of
those who sought his aid, nearly to the close of his life. And
disputed cases were often settled by his decision as the arbiter
chosen by both parties.

Of the manner in which he discharged the multifarious and
important duties of his new office, I cannot speak from per-
sonal knowledge ; for that was confined to a few simple cases
in which I had occasion to meet him. But the high expecta-
tions, founded upon his past life and character, were not disap-
pointed. His knowledge of law and his familiarity both with
the principles and practice of trusts were eminently useful. A
thorough gentleman, if ever there was one, he was none the
less a thorough man of business. No thought of suspecting
his integrity ever entered into any man's mind. In all ques-
tions between the corporation intrusted to his management,
and those who had claims upon it, his fairness was never
doubted, while his protection of the trusts in his hands was
perfect. In manner he was courteous, and equally so to all ;
but his gentleness was not to be imposed upon, for it was
guarded by a sharp-sighted sagacity and strengthened by a

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 271

firmness which was only firmness and not obstinacy. The
general belief that he was the right man for that place, which
existed when he took it, was constantly confirmed during all
the years that he held the office.

I would not omit to state, as an incident in his life, that in
1823 and 1824 he was the commander of the New-England
Guards. He discharged the duties of this military office with
the zeal and efficiency which characterized his performance of
the duties of his profession. He was proud of his company,
of their full ranks, and their excellent drill as light infantry,
infantry of the line and artillery ; for they were trained in all
these forms of military discipline.

In politics he was deeply interested, and was never absent
from the polls when it was possible to attend them. Without
ever being what might be called a thorough-going partisan, he
had decided convictions upon party questions, which, in their
essence, did not vary through the changes of the party names
from Federalist to Whig or Republican. Although often solic-
ited, he never accepted public office, until, in 1862, he became
for one year a member of the Senate of Massachusetts, hold-
ing therein the office of Chairman of the Judiciary Committee,
and of the Committee on Mercantile Affairs.

In 1849 he was invited by Governor Briggs to take the place
in the Senate of the United States vacated by Mr. Webster's
resignation ; and in 1853 he was invited by Governor Wash-
burn' to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. Everett's resignation.
Both of these invitations he declined, after much consideration
and consultation with friends, some of whom advised him
otherwise. Among his reasons for these refusals was the
smallness of his fortune, and the necessity thereby imposed of
continuing his professional labors. With all his opportunities
to accumulate property, never here surpassed in his profession,
the moderation of his charges, the liberality of his expenditure,
and the greater liberality, or I might say lavishness, of his
gifts, prevented his acquiring wealth. According to his way

272 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

of considering such things, his acceptance of the office of
Senator of the United States would have involved as a duty
his leaving his profession. He said to his friends that he
had not studied the science of politics, nor accustomed himself
to a sustained investigation of its principles, or of the questions
which arise when those principles are applied to practice.
And he thought himself too old to begin a new career.

Let me now gather up some other incidents in his course.
In 1832, when the cholera, after raging through Europe, was
expected in this country, Mr. Loring was active in forming a
large relief association to visit and care for the sick and dying.
At that time, the fear of this pestilence, which was thought to
be contagious, amounted to panic. He accepted the office of
chairman of a committee charged with the duty of attendance
upon the sick ; and personally visited the earliest cases, and
spared no efforts and no exposure which could bring order and
efficiency into the arrangements for the sick, or mitigate their
sufferings.

In 1834 occurred that most violent and most disgraceful
riot in which was destroyed the Ursuline Convent in Charles-
town. Great efforts were made to discover the ringleaders,
and bring them to their deserved punishment. At a large
meeting in Faneuil Hall, Mr. Loring was appointed chairman
of a numerous committee charged with the investigation of
this crime. The committee had many sessions, and in the dis-
charge of this duty he labored assiduously for many weeks.
At the close he made a full report, stating the processes and
the results of the examination, and the evidence thus obtained
was of great service in the subsequent legal proceedings.

He was always and thoroughly an earnest lover of freedom,
and therefore was opposed to slavery ; and an extensive tour
through the Southern States had strengthened his belief in the
essential wickedness of slavery as it existed there, as well as
its enormous mischief. He did not, however, join the Anti-
slavery party, because, while he sympathized with them in the

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 273

ends they sought, he was unable to approve of the means and
measures by which they sought to reach that end ; but this
sympathy he never hesitated to express or to manifest in such
ways as he could. In 1851, when the trial of Sims, an escaped
slave, took place before the United States Commissioner, he
appeared as his counsel and made the closing argument.

In 1835 he was appointed a Fellow of Harvard College, and
retained that office until 1857 ; and during all this period he
was a most active, interested, and useful member of the Cor-
poration. When in 1850 a controversy arose between the
Corporation and the Overseers as to their respective rights and
duties, Mr. Loring made a long report on the subject, after-
wards published in a pamphlet form, in which he gave an
exhaustive review of all the historical facts and legal principles
bearing on the questions considered, and presented an able
and conclusive argument in support of the views held by the
Corporation. He was especially active and instrumental in
terminating the former connection of the Divinity School with
the College and placing it in its present relations. He was
much interested in establishing the Society of the Alumni,
which he believed would strengthen the interest of the gradu-
ates in their Alma Mater.

In connection with Mr. Loring's relations with Harvard
College, it should be mentioned that in 1865 he was chosen to
preside at the ovation given by the College to her sons on their
return from the war. No appointment could have been more
acceptable, and no person could have better discharged its pecu-
liar and difficult duties, in the various preparatory arrange-
ments and on the day of the ovation.

He was also chairman of the committee of fifty, in whose
hands was placed the charge of gathering funds for, and the
construction of, the edifice which Harvard College is now about
to build, as an enduring memorial of all of her children who
offered, and of the many of them who gave, their lives to their
country.

274 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

In 1853 he went with Mrs. Loring to Europe, and travelled
over many parts of that continent. But his longest visit was
to England, where he passed some months. I am sure he was
very happy there, and I believe he was very useful. His letters
of introduction and his reputation secured to him access to
the highest ranks of English society. In the Diary of Henry
Crabb Robinson, recently published, under the date of June
24, 1853, he speaks of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Loring at Dr.
Boott's house, in London. He says, " The star was Loring,"
then gives the substance of a long conversation with him on
American politics, and adds, " I have seen no one who judges
seemingly with so much candor as Loring."

At that time there was a strong disposition among many of
the leading men in England to understand us better ; and not
in casual conversation only did he give them information, but
they sometimes sought it directly. A gentleman of much dis-
tinction asked him to meet at his house a number of men who
were eminent in name or station, and who wished to compre-
hend better than they had been able to — what must be an
enigma to European statesmen, and is not I fear so well under-
stood by ourselves as it should be — the true place of the
judiciary among our institutions.

How is it, said they, that when a law is enacted by Congress
and approved by the President, with the written constitution
before them, there comes another body, which, possessing no
legislative power, may annul this law by their simple declara-
tion that it is, in their judgment, " unconstitutional" ? There
was a free and full and long conversation on this subject. Mr.
Loring did his best to explain it, and no one could do better.
He told me that he considered himself as, on the whole, unsuc-
cessful. Indeed, one of the most eminent among them said
to him in parting, and while expressing his thanks for the in-
formation they had received, that he still found it a very obscure
matter, and doubted whether he fully comprehended either its
principle or its working.

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 275

When the War of Secession broke out, he entered upon the
questions and the duties which it presented with all the vigor
and enthusiasm of his character. His second son entered the
army, went through the war, and came out with high military
rank. His only grandson old enough to bear arms served with
honor. He was himself too old to fight otherwise than with
the pen. But that weapon he used ably and usefully. Be-
sides many addresses at public meetings, which were reported
and published, he wrote often and earnestly upon the topics
suggested by the events of the day, sending his articles to
newspapers ; and most of these were afterwards published in
pamphlet form.

The first of them which I will notice bears the title of " A
Reading upon the Personal Liberty Laws of Massachusetts."
It consisted of two long articles published in the " Boston Daily
Advertiser," Dec. 31, 1860, and Jan. 3, 1861. It relates to the
statutes of Massachusetts, " enacted," says Mr. Loring, " as
is universally known, under the influence of the strong indig-
nation pervading this and other States in reference to the Fugi-
tive Slave Act of 1850, and of recent outrages in Southern
States upon citizens of the Free States ; and evidently indica-
tive of that emotion, rather than of legislative equanimity."
These laws had been severely attacked and their constitution-
ality denied, especially in " An Appeal to the Citizens of
Massachusetts." The decisions and the arguments bearing
upon the question were fully considered by Mr. Loring, and
he reached the conclusion that these laws, if fairly and ration-
ally construed, were strictly and certainly within the constitu-
tional powers of the legislature of Massachusetts.

In 1862 appeared the largest, and, under some points of
view, the most interesting of these pamphlets. It was called,
" Correspondence on the Present Relations between Great
Britain and the United States of America." It consisted of
letters which passed between Mr. Loring and Mr. Edwin W.
Field, an eminent solicitor of London and very able man, with

276 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

whom Mr. Loring had become acquainted while in England.
Mr. Field was one of those Englishmen, who, while they were
cordial friends of this country, and hated slavery (he calls the
theory put forth in its defence " devilish doctrine"), neverthe-
less thought that England was justified in the course she had
pursued in " the Trent affair," and, generally, in her treatment
of us ; and that we were mistaken in our resistance to Seces-
sion, and that our wiser course would be to let the Slave States
go off if they would, leaving the Free States all the better for
having got rid of them. I indulge myself with quoting one
brief passage from Mr. Field's first letter. It was written at
his country seat on Hampstead Hill ; and, besides the pleasant
picture it presents, exhibits in few words the main purpose of
all his letters :

" As long as you treat us like gentlemen (I think Seward's waiting
to see what we did, when he thought all the while we were right, was
more like a lawyer than a gentleman), I don't believe the Emperor of
the French himself, with all the cotton-lords (and they will be few) he
can enlist, will persuade us towards moving to break the blockade, even
though it be ever so paperish a one. So far for politics : now to 'pas-
tures new.' . . . Last summer we had a lone house for our sketching
quarters on the Thames, twenty miles below Oxford : a ferry was attached
to it, which one man was obliged to work day and night too, if the
passengers could wake him. I spent many and many a pleasant hour,
when saturated with sketching, in sailing my New York centre-board
little boat, the 'Yankee;' the star-spangled banner, of course, in full
fly at the peak. The Great Western Railway crossed the Thames
near us ; and, quiet as was the land and water, the trains in mid air
brought thousands of eyes to admire the boat and the beautiful flag.
What will be the issue of its stars from your troubles ? I have said
I will no more politics, or I must have added a word or two why
we think our old saying, ' Good shut of bad rubbish,' should be the
doctrine of your policy, as the best way of getting rid of the plague
of slave recognition and its devotees."

As the correspondence went on from Jan. 16 to Nov. 13,
1862, the whole subject, under all its aspects, was thoroughly
ventilated. Both writers were gentlemen, and cordial friends.

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 277

Both wrote in perfect freedom, but not a word is there savor-
ing of unkindness or discourtesy in the whole correspondence.
I thought then and I think now that the whole argument was
exhausted. I have seen nothing since on Mr. Field's side
which was not said or suggested by him ; and the replies of
Mr. Loring were direct, cogent, and, as it seems to me, con-
clusive. This pamphlet attracted much attention both in Eng-
land and in this country, and must have exerted a consider-
able and most useful influence.

I must not permit myself to notice these pamphlets in much
detail. In 1863 were published, under the title of " Neutral
Relations of England and the United States," a series of arti-
cles which had appeared in the " Boston Daily Advertiser,"
from Aug. 20 to Sept. 25, 1863. They examined thoroughly,
and from a lawyer's point of view, the conduct of England in
relation to the " Alabama " and the " Florida," and her other
breaches of neutrality ; and in 1864 were* gathered in a
pamphlet bearing the title of " England's Liability for Indem-
nity : Remarks ■ on the Letter of Historicus, dated Nov. 4,
1863, printed in the ' London Times,' Nov. 7, and repeated in
the ' Boston Daily Advertiser,' Nov. 25th." This pamphlet
passed through two editions, and neither this, nor that on
" Neutral Relations " must be forgotten or neglected by those
who have to maintain in any way our own doctrine, that the
claims of this country against England are something more
than what Historicus saw fit to call them, when, in a letter,
which at that time found much acceptance in England,
he permitted himself to say: "This 'tail talk' of claims
against Great Britain for prizes taken by the ' Alabama ' is
mere nonsense, which has no color or foundation either in
reason, history, or law."

In 1866 he published his last work. It was a pamphlet of
one hundred and twenty-six pages, bearing the title of " Re-
construction. Claims of the Inhabitants of the States Engaged
in the Rebellion to Restoration of Political Rights and Privi-

278 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

leges under the Constitution. " I could not condense within
narrow limits the close reasoning of this pamphlet, even if
this were the place to attempt it ; and must content myself
with quoting the concluding paragraphs. They will serve as a
specimen of his style ; but I quote them rather because they
express strongly an opinion, a principle, and a feeling, of
which, through all the excitements and discussions of those
stormy times, he never lost sight ; and which, I permit myself '
to say, there never seemed to me more need than there is now
to remember and to invigorate.

" He cannot, however, leave the subject without adverting to a pos-
sible misapprehension of his views upon the importance and sacredness
of the rights of the States under the Constitution, which might arise
from the nature of the discussion which has been attempted. It will
be observed, that his only object has been to vindicate the sovereignty
of the General Government against the assaults made upon it by
advocates of the 'rights of inhabitants of States who had renounced
allegiance to it, and had engaged in civil war for its overthrow ; and,
consequently, that the discussion has been almost exclusively confined
to considerations of the relations of the States to the General
Government in that aspect only, and of the subordination and limita-
tions of State sovereignty rather than of its attributes. But none can
be more profoundly impressed, than he believes himself to be, with the
essential importance and inviolability of the rights intended to be se-
cured to the several States under the Constitution. He accounts their
individual independence and sovereignty over the domestic relations
and municipal law, and the internal governments of their respective
inhabitants, as the very foundation-stones of the National Government.
The preservation of this sovereignty and independence, to the fullest
extent warranted by the Constitution, he considers to be chief among
the fundamental principles of American statesmanship; as the only
means possible of maintaining a free and energetic government over
territories of extent so vast as those already comprised within our
national boundaries ; as the safest barrier against attempts at execu-
tive usurpation ; as the main bulwark against the natural tendency of
the General Government, as of all others, to consolidation and central-
ization of its authority ; and which, not thus controlled, attaining at
first to the exercise of arbitrary power by the many, would, as all his-

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 279

tory prophesies, eventually terminate in practical despotism ; and, above
all, as the sufficient and only instrumentality for educating and disci-
plining successive generations in the knowledge and practice of politi-
cal rights and duties, by which alone they can be made capable of
self-government.

" And no one will hail with profounder gladness a just perception
on the part of the inhabitants of the Rebel States of their true rela-
tions to the Government, and their return to their constitutional places
in the Union, which, unhappily for us all, they have made vacant."

In all of these writings, the argument of Mr. Loring is al-
ways calmly, if sometimes urgently, expressed. He labored to
give whatever force he could to his reasoning ; but was con-
scious of his strong feeling, and on his guard against an
inappropriate expression of it. To me, as I now read them
over, this reasoning seems to be extremely strong, and, for the
most part, conclusive. It could not convince those who were
unable to admit the principles which he assumed, holding them
indeed as axioms ; and it cannot be necessary to say that all
reasoning, upon any subject, must begin with truths that are
taken for granted. Nor could he hope to influence those who
had already confirmed themselves in opposite conclusions. I
am sure, however, that no candid reader could for a moment
doubt that his views were most carefully and elaborately
thought out, and were honestly believed to be rational and just ;
and that this reasoning had led himself, and was offered that
it might lead others, to conclusions which he held most sin-
cerely and most firmly.

His style as an author may be said to be in exact accordance
with his character and his habits of thought ; as, perhaps, every
author's must be to some extent. It is strong, direct, and clear ;
with no attempt at eloquence, and not one particle of affecta-
tion. He manifests, as was before intimated, a desire to avoid
exaggeration, but no wish to escape from an honest exhibition
of his strong feeling and decided conviction. There is but
little ornament, and none for the sake of ornament. His
words are a transparent medium for his thoughts ; and as they

280 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [APRIL,

were never the special object of his own care, so they do not
catch the attention of the reader, and turn it aside from his
meaning. In his writing, as in his whole life and conduct, he
sought for and he found the becoming and appropriate ; and
more he did not seek. He desired to appear well always ; but
seeming was to him of far less value than being.

It may be added, as illustrating a trait of his character, that,
when he began to write for the public, he complained that his
style, which was formed by the habits of a speaker, was bad
for a writer. It was diffuse, not always accurate, or con-
structed with sufficient care. Old as he was he set himself, to
use his own phrase, to learn to write ; for his sense of duty
was never satisfied unless whatever he had to do was done as
well as it could be done. His friends thought him rather a
severe critic of his own work ; but some effect of his efforts
may be traced in his successive productions.

He was one of the founders of the Union Club in Boston,
and labored earnestly in establishing it and in promoting its
interests, in the belief that it would exert a useful influence in
forming and cherishing a spirit of patriotism among its mem-
bers, and through them in the community. He was President
of the club at his death.

It was not only with his pen, but with his voice, that he
labored in those days of peril and disaster. He was willing
to speak always when he thought he could be useful. In 1864,
when Mr. Lincoln was a candidate for re-election, a meeting
was called in Faneuil Hall, at which Mr. Loring presided.
His opening address was published in the papers. The follow-
ing passage, quoted from it, may serve as a fair specimen of his
style in public speaking, and as an expression of the profound
feeling which urged him to do his utmost through all that
fearful conflict.

" It is no question of merely personal preference of one candidate
over another, nor the ascendancy of a political party in the government
of the country ; no question of expediency in finance, of internal econ-

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 281

omy, of foreign diplomacy, or even of fundamental construction of the
Constitution. But it is one which underlies all these. It is the ques-
tion whether our National Union shall be preserved ; whether we shall
continue to exist as a great and independent nation, capable of self-
government at home, and possessing power to protect ourselves from
foreign aggression and to secure the enjoyment of ' the mildest rule
the sun ever shone upon,' — or shall be split into any number from two
to thirty-four or more of distinct, weak, and distracted municipalities,
with clashing interests and embittering jealousies, to drive us eventu-
ally into military despotism, as our only refuge from anarchy and per
petual war."

His father belonged to the Congregational Society, worship-
ping in the West Church, Lynde Street, Boston ; and Mr.
Loring remained all his life a member of it. No one who
knew him doubted the reality and strength of his religious
sentiment. But of doctrinal religious belief he seldom spoke.
He called himself a Unitarian ; but precisely where he stood
in the wide circle of those who bear that name, I know not,
and doubt, indeed, whether he had sharply defined this place
in his own mind. For many years of the most active part of
his life, he was the Superintendent of the Sunday school of
that Society. His attendance was constant, and his lessons
were carefully and conscientiously prepared ; and his addresses
to the children were thought by associate teachers and others
who heard them to be among his happiest efforts ; and after
he resigned the office of Superintendent he would occasionally
visit the school and address the children, even to the last year
of his life.

He had always a remarkable power of approaching the
young, and exerting an influence over them, — not children
only, but young men, and especially the numerous students
who were prepared in his office for the labors of their profes-
sion. This was due, in large measure, to the fulness of sym-
pathy with which he entered into their states of thought and
feeling. In this respect, as in many others, the freshness and
vitality of youth were undimmed in him by the shadows of
advancing age. 36

282 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

Let me now speak of him as he was at home, — the home
which he made a happy one for all whom it sheltered, and
where he found the happiness he valued most.

In 1818, at the age of twenty-four, he married Miss Anna
Pierce Brace, of Litchfield, with whom he had become ac-
quainted while a student in the Law School at that place.
This union, founded upon the sincerest mutual affection, was
one of uninterrupted happiness, until it was terminated by her
death in 1836. In 1840 he married Miss Mary Anne Putnam,
a daughter of the late Hon. Samuel Putnam, a Justice of the
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. She was one of
several sisters who were noted for their charming manners
and attractive qualities. She died in 1845. He married in
1850, Mrs. Cornelia Goddard, widow of George A. Goddard,
and daughter of the late Francis Amory, of Boston. This lady
still survives him ; and I refrain from saying more than that
they were worthy of each other ; and there need be no higher
encomium upon either.

By his first marriage Mr. Loring had two sons and two
daughters, all of whom survive him. By his third marriage
he had one child, who died in infancy.

Mr. Loring was eminently hospitable. No trait of his char-
acter was more salient or more constant. Let me repeat a re-
mark I heard made recently by one who spoke from experience :
" In their house you found the perfection of hospitality with
an entire absence of display." He was one of those who
found their pleasure in giving pleasure to others. His ac-
quaintance was extensive ; and strangers visiting Boston and
bringing with them any distinction of position or of merit,
were usually entertained by him, and through him obtained
access to his wide circle of friends.

His winters he passed in Boston. But in 1844 he purchased,
for a summer residence, a farm on the Beverly shore. It was
then a common farm, nowise distinguished from others, but in
its bounding upon the sea, its wide and smooth beaches, its mas-

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 283

sive rocks, and its beautiful trees, which in many places came
down to the water side. He saw its beauty ; and he had the
taste and skill to improve this to the uttermost. He built a
modest house, which only by successive additions became large
enough to meet the needs of his hospitality. There he spent
his summers ; coming to Boston as the requirements of busi-
ness called him, or, when he could, taking his papers to Bev-
erly and working over them there. It would be difficult to
say whether he found most enjoyment in the thorough cultiva-
tion of his farm, or in that skilful development of its beauty,
which has left it without a rival among the many charming
estates which lie along that lovely shore.

The same thoroughness and industry with which he tried his
cases and gave opinions, and commanded his military company,
and discharged his other duties, he brought to bear upon this
new employment. He studied gardening and farming, read-
ing the best books on those sut»jects, and putting in practice
what he learnt from books. He examined the nature of the soil,
and improved the different fields by putting on them the differ-
ent chemical ingredients they required ; he ascertained what
fruits were best adapted to the seashore, and the best rotation
of crops for such a farm, and the special effects of different ma-
nures ; and took great pains and spent much money in obtaining
the most useful and valuable animals. He did all these things
systematically and kept a full record of his doings. And it
gave him great pleasure when the neighboring farmers, who
laughed at him at first, began to consider him as an authority,
and to profit by his experience and instruction. We used to
think he felt more pride in being considered a good farmer,
than in his success as a lawyer.

The free access to his place which he permitted to all alike,
strangers or friends, should not be omitted, for it illustrates
that most prominent trait in his character which I have al-
ready stated and am glad to refer to again, the pleasure he
found in giving pleasure to others. He had a large barn upon

284 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

his place, built at great cost, and so skilfully adapted to agri-
cultural purposes that it was regarded as a kind of model, and
brought persons, some from a considerable distance, to see and
study it. This he liked ; but there was another thing about it
which I believe he liked still more. It made the "best play-
place possible for the children of his neighbors, when heat or
rain made them seek its shelter. I lived one summer in his
neighborhood, and my grandchildren were with me. They soon
found out where to go to find companions and to sport at pleas-
ure ; and he provided for them there means of amusement.
When I went there to look after my contribution to this noisy
crowd of little ones, he would often come in, never casting any
restraint upon them by his presence, but always enjoying their
enjoyment.

Well do I remember his eagerness, as the spring opened, to
go to this beautiful home. And there he lingered until ap-
proaching winter drove him back to Boston. He bought the
place when his health was much broken, in the hope, which
the result justified, that he. should find invigoration not only
in the rest and pleasant occupation it afforded him, but in its
atmosphere, which gathered from the sea a bracing influence,
and in that sheltered spot was not so harsh and bleak as
it is too apt to be on our Atlantic shore in the " Easterly
days " which alternate rapidly with our summer heats. Its
immediate neighborhood was full of pleasant roads, leading
through beautiful and singularly diversified scenery. This
was not a small advantage to a man of his tastes and habits.
So much sedentary occupation and mental labor made it neces-
sary for him to take active and regular exercise ; and finding
he could get most of this, with the least expense of time, in
the saddle, for many years he rode every day, and never gave
up this habit. He had fine horses and was proud of them. I
think he was proud, too, of his skill and hardihood as a horse-
man : he certainly had a right to be so.

Dearly did he love that beautiful home, much of whose

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 285

beauty he made and all of it he enjoyed. There he passed his
summers, which were always too short for him. And there,
after some months of much pain and constant discomfort,
which it was hard to bear, but which he bore with his accus-
tomed patience and fortitude, he died, on the 8th day of Oct.,
in the year 1867.

On the evening of June 13, 1818, some young men met, by
the invitation of Mr. William H. Gardiner, in his room, in the
house of his father, the late Rev. Dr. Gardiner, to form a club.
They did so ; and others were added in the three years imme-
diately following, until the whole number was twenty-four ;
none were afterwards received ; Mr. Loring became a member
in the first year. It never had any name but " Club," and
was neither cumbered nor helped by any rules. We met on
alternate Tuesdays, supping, and in later years dining, together.
For a short time there was some endeavor to give it a literary
character ; and some of the papers read there were published
in numbers under the title of " The Club Room." But this
soon came to an end ; and probably not half a dozen complete
copies -are in existence : I should not know where to find half
as many. The club became merely conversational, and has al-
ways so remained. In its earlier years, when we all had many
engagements and amusements, our attendance upon it was not
regular or constant ; but it became so in later years. This
club is mentioned in Mr. Ticknor's charming memoir of W.
H. Prescott. I speak of it now for two reasons. One is, that
Mr. Loring was one of the most constant attendants and took
the deepest interest in all that concerned it. We all — I
am sure I may speak for others as well as for myself —
valued it exceedingly. Conversation there ran through all
imaginable topics. It was always free, always perfectly unre-
served. We had known each other so long and so well, that
the thought of any disguise or concealment could not occur to
us ; for never perhaps was there a society of such men, all of

286 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [APRIL.

whom were so thoroughly acquainted with the tastes and char-
acters, the opinions and the feelings, on all subjects, of each
other. There was abundant diversity among us ; but if there
was seldom entire agreement, still more seldom did disagree-
ment become discord. In the old phrase, we agreed to dis-
agree ; and one of the causes of the unabated interest with
which it held us all was the certainty that any subject dis-
cussed there would be considered by one or another under
most of the aspects which it could present. One reason for
speaking of this club has been given ; it was the interest which
Mr. Loring took in it and the value he set upon it. There is
another ; for it was there that I learned to know him, and, as I
believe, to know him thoroughly. When, many years ago, I
was in the practice of my profession, we met in our cases,
sometimes acting together and sometimes in opposition. I
saw much of him in court, in cases in which I was not con-
cerned, and met him not unfrequently ; but it was in the club
that I saw him most and saw most of him. His presence
could always be counted on, unless he was held away by some
potent obstacle ; for, as he often said to us, he permitted no
engagement or occupation which he could control to keep him
away. These lines may fall under the eyes of those who did
not know him ; and to them it may be well to say that if no
one more enjoyed the social pleasures of the club, no one
added more to them. Interested in every thing which inter-
ested others ; pouring forth with the perfect unreserve of long
and intimate friendship all his thought and feeling, and wel-
coming equal unreserve on the part of others, the club was to
him, and he helped to make it to us all, a means not of enter-
tainment merely, but of that ripening of thought which could
not but grow out of — sometimes the collision and always the
freest intercourse — of minds which represented almost every
phase of opinion or of sentiment upon almost every subject.

The last time I saw him was in his house in Beverly, in
July, 1867, where, in accordance with his usual custom, after

1870.] MEMOIR OF CHARLES GREELY LORING. 287

our regular winter meetings were over, he invited us to dine
with him at the season when his beautiful place was most at-
tractive. Never was he more hospitable ; never did he give to
his guests a kinder or more cordial reception. But even then
it was evident to us that his health was failing, and that he
thought it was failing. The disease had then at least begun,
although its true character was unsuspected, which soon after
developed its fatal power, and terminated his earthly life.

At that dinner, in reference to some remarks made at the
table about old age and its insidious decay, he said he was so
much afraid of this, that he had bound three different friends
upon whose judgment and fidelity he could rely, by a solemn
promise, that, if they saw symptoms of approaching imbecility
which he did not himself detect, they would tell him so at
once, and thus prevent his continued hold upon duties which
he could no longer faithfully and fully discharge.

Mr. Loring closes a letter, written on the day after that din-
ner, to one of our number who could not be present, — Mr. W.
H. Gardiner, — thus : " We had a very quiet but genial session,
as becomes our age and our regard for each other, and I think
all enjoyed it much. You were most affectionately remem-
bered throughout the day ; and I need not say your absence
was most deeply regretted with profound sympathy for its
cause. We did not forget you in our talk, nor in a heart-
felt pledge to your health and welfare. Club is one of the
brightest of the rays of our setting sun ; — but that is already
touching the horizon."

For him it indeed touched and soon sank beneath his earthly
horizon. Nor can it linger long in the darkening sky of the
few — five only — of the members who still remain here. But
while any one of them retains his memory, the recollection of
those meetings, and of the friend who was held to us by ties
to which not only personal regard but fifty years of intimacy
had given strength, cannot be lost.

I do not forget that I am writing this memoir for another

288 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

and very different body of his associates ; but I must ask them
not to forget that if the warm, true, earnest friendship of the
man were not made prominent in any portraiture, it could not
be faithful to him.

I am not willing to close this imperfect memoir of Mr.
Loring without presenting a trait, which none who knew him
could fail to observe : I refer to the singular purity of his life
and conversation. No person ever heard a tale, an allusion,
a word from his lips, which would have been forbidden by the
strictest morality or the highest refinement. Seldom, if ever,
was any thing said in his presence, which might not be said
in the presence of women by one who felt their refining and
protective influence. There was indeed something feminine
about him. This man, in whom all the elements of manliness
were gathered, had also much of the delicacy, the tenderness,
the ready and affectionate sympathy which belong to women.
And these parts of his nature harmonized. Always courteous,
there was a kindness in his courtesy when the object of it
was a woman, which was the same to all, and could not be
greater to any than it was to all.

I would mention yet another trait. He could be indignant
and express his anger with abundant plainness or severity.
But he could not sneer. No one ever heard from him any
sarcasm. He enjoyed the sportive wit and pleasantry of others ;
but, to be enjoyed by him, it must be wit that did not sting.
I have more than once referred to his most characteristic dis-
position to find pleasure in giving pleasure. I only say the
converse of this, in adding that he could not take pleasure in
saying what gave pain or in witnessing the pain such words
gave. Then, he did not join in the laugh : his sympathies
were on the other side.

There was a singular mingling of conservatism and enthusi-
asm in his character. Believing that the institutions and ar-
rangements of society were on the whole good and wholesome,
and firmly convinced that the condition of mankind had ad-

1870.] MEMOIR OP CHARLES GREELY LORTNG. 289

vanced through the past and was still advancing, not rapidly,
and not without alternations, but not more slowly than was
needed to make this advance real and permanent, he had little
faith in violent and convulsive reforms ; and looked with dislike
and fear on efforts and on changes which some regarded with
exulting hope. To those who favored and urged on those move-
ments, he seemed to belong to the party of retardation rather
than to that of progress. And yet through his whole life, every
effort, individual or organized, which seemed to hold out any
promise of preventing, or removing, or lessening wrong or suf-
fering, had not his sympathy only, but whatever assistance he
could render. To enumerate all such instances would be to tell
how all his years went by. I have omitted, for example, his in-
terest in the Aid Society for Unfortunate Children, of which he
was President ; his earnest efforts to resist the annexation of
Texas, and, later, the invasion of Kansas. Of such things, and
of others less in importance but of like kind, it would not be
difficult to give a long list. I have abstained from this, wish-
ing only to mention facts and incidents which were needed
to illustrate his character. Of those who knew him best, some
may think that in 'this way I have failed to do him justice.
On the other hand, I am not insensible to the danger that this
sketch — and it is no more — of the distinctive characteristics
of a friend so dear to me may seem, and may be, overcharged.
No portrait can seem lifelike or be faithful if it be wholly with-
out shadow. I would willingly tone my picture down, as far
as I may with truth and honesty.

In the first place, then, I do not present Mr. Loring as a
genius ; as having one of those great intellects which by an
admitted supremacy makes its possessor a giant among com-
mon men. He had excellent sense ; his insight into persons
and facts was more than commonly rapid and penetrating.
His power of acquiring knowledge was, I think, unusual, al-
though the constant labors of his whole life had prevented his
giving to his mind a wide a,nd diversified culture. This indeed

290 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [APRIL,

was made impossible by the condition of his eyes. Always weak,
sometimes very painful, and generally becoming so with almost
any attempt to use them in reading or writing, it seemed to us
a marvel how he could do, and do so thoroughly, such an im-
mense business. In his later years his eyes were stronger. Then
only, and not often then, could he open a book in the evening.
But he made use of whatever opportunity came to him to en-
large his acquaintance with the best literature of the day. His
memory was strong and prompt : it held firmly whatever was
committed to it, and offered it up for use readily and accu-
rately. Whatever ability he had was strengthened and disci-
plined by constant exercise. His superiority, however, lay
more in his character than in his intellect. He always seemed
to me an excellent illustration of one of the wisest sayings of
that wise man, Dr. Thomas Arnold, the great English school-
master. A friend wrote to him, asking what general truths
or principles had most strongly impressed themselves upon his
mind, as the result of his long instruction of so many young
jien, his intimate acquaintance with as well as his deep inter-
est in them, and his careful observation of them not only as
pupils but in their subsequent careers of failure or success. I
quote from memory only, but Dr. Arnold's reply, in substance,
and nearly in words, was, " There is nothing I am more sure
of than that force of character constantly wears the aspect,
wins the name, and does the work, of force of intellect."

Mr. Loring's temper was, usually, and indeed almost uni-
formly, sweet and calm ; but he was sensitive, and sometimes
irritable. It appeared to me that his ailments and nervous ex-
citability had much to do with this ; and the strength of his con-
victions and the positiveness of his belief had still more. But
if in conversation he ever grew too insisting, peremptory, and
impatient of reply, and if his urgency ever passed beyond the
limits which a due regard for the rights or the feelings of others
would have set, I think he saw it as soon as any one, nor was
it ever long before his gentleness and courtesy renewed their
sway.

1870.] SPECIAL MEETING. 291

And now I find myself wholly unable to add to this list of
demerits. Let them have their due effect and weight. I ear-
nestly desire to present him only as he was. How indeed
could I remember who it is that is the subject of this brief
memoir, and not permit the recollection to compel me, if I
needed the compulsion, to seek to be, in all I say of him, truth
ml and just ?

SPECIAL MEETING.

A Social Meeting of the Society was held at the house of
Mr. William S. Appleton, 39 Beacon Street, on Thursday
evening, April 28th, the President in the chair.

The President read a letter from Mr. Charles J. Hoadly, of
Hartford, which contained the following passage : —

In reading, not long since, Archdeacon Hale's " Series of prece-
dents and proceedings in criminal causes, extending from the year 1475
to 1640, * * illustrative of the discipline of the church of England,"
Lond. 1847, I met, on p. 259, with the enclosed, relating to one of
the early assistants of Massachusetts. It is of very little importance
and very likely not new to you, though I do not remember to have seen
any reference to it in any of the books published on our side of the

water.

[ " 29 Nov. 1636.
Archdeaconry of Essex."]

" Sandon. Contra Thomam Sharp et Tabitham ejus uxorem, Tho-
mam Sharp, juniorem, et Annam Wittam. * * They doe all refuse to
bowe at the blessed name of Jesus, or to stand up at the Creed, ac-
cording to the cannon : but doe scoffe at the minister and others that
doe. The said Tabitha did not come to be churched in a vaile ; nor
did kneele by the communion table, accordinge to the Rubricke : The
said Sharpe is a common depracer of the government ecclesiasticall,
and of the rites and ceremonies of this church, since his cominge from
Newe England. * * Citentur."

The asterisks are in the print. Sandon is the name, I suppose, of
the parish.

292 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

The President also read a letter from a gentleman in Lon-
don, communicated by President Eliot of Harvard College,
containing the following description of an enamel portrait, in
miniature, of Washington ; and saying that its present owner,
now residing in London, is desirous of parting with it in or-
der to realize its value : —

" This enamel of General Washington was given me by Mr. Pea-
body. Its history is this : It was done by W. Bone (enameller on
copper to George III.), who carried the art to perfection. Since
his death the art has become extinct. It was taken from a sketch
of Washington a few years before his death, and is the likeness of a
much older man than any of the few portraits in existence, and the
date, 1796, which, with the artist's initials * W. B.,' to be seen on the
left side of the picture, shows that it was enamelled but two years be-
fore his death, which took place in 1798. Formerly it was in a small
rosewood frame on the back of which is the artist's full name. This is
still in my possession. Mr. Peabody had it removed from the frame
and placed in this present simple but handsome gold setting, which he
considered emblematical of the original. Mr. Biden, in Cheapside, was
the goldsmith employed.

u The picture was executed for a family in England, and the member
into whose possession it passed, being in need of money, brought it to
Mr. Peabody, knowing his interest in all things connected with the
history of the United States. He bought it and gave it to me in 1859.
He always alluded to it in some way whenever I saw him, for he con-
sidered it of great value."

A photograph of the enamel portrait was also exhibited, and
in connection with it the President presented to the Society
a print of an original miniature of Washington by William
Birch, in the possession of Charles G. Barney, Esq. The re-
semblance between the two portraits would seem to leave little
doubt that the enamel of Bone was taken from the miniature
of Birch.

Mr. Appleton exhibited a selection of coins and medals re-
lating to America, and read the following paper descriptive of
them : ~

1870.] MEDALS AND COINS RELATING TO AMERICA. 298

Medals and Coins relating to America,

Numbers I., II., and III. form the only complete set known to exist
of the earliest coinage of New England. 27th May, 1652, the Gen-
eral Court of Massachusetts ordered, " That all psons whatsoever have
libertie to bring in unto the mint howse, at Boston, all bullion, plate, or
Spanish coyne, there to be melted and brought to the allay of sterling
silver by John Hull, master of the sd mint, & his sworne officers, & by
him to be coyned into twelve pence, six pence, & three pence peeces,
which shalbe for forme flatt, & square on the sides, & stamped on the
one side with NE, & on the other side with XII d , VI d , & III d , accord-
ing to the value of each peece," &c. This order remained in force less
than six months, and probably many of the coins were remelted for the
pine-tree issue, so that now all are rare. Not more than half a dozen
sixpences can be found, and of the threepence only one other speci-
men is known to collectors, and that is in the cabinet belon^in^ to
Yale College. Thomas Snelling, in his account of the coins of the
English Colonies, 1769, says, "The first pieces coined at this time
[1652], — or, rather, stamped, — were six-pences and shillings [of
which he gives plates], having on one side NE, and on the other VI
and XII for their respective values ; we are also told there was an-
other sort struck with III, for three-pence, but we have never yet met
with it in any cabinet, and even the other two are very scarce." Rud-
ing, well known as the best authority on English coinage, says, " Those
coins also which are stamped with NE only near the edge on the one
side, and with the figures XII or VI in like manner, on the other,
and commonly reported to have been struck at Newcastle, it is said
were, as well as the last [the pine-tree money], monies of New
England, and of about the same date with them." After quoting from
Hutchinson's " History of Massachusetts Bay," the passage relating to
them, he adds : " The three-pence spoken of above has never been
discovered."

Numbers IV. to XL are shillings, sixpences, a threepence, and a
twopence of the pine-tree money, ordered by the General Court, 19th
October, 1652, to "have a double ring on either side, with this inscrip-
tion — Massachusetts, and a tree in the center on the one side — and
New England, and the date of the yeare on the other side." The
two-penny piece was not authorized till 1662. The coining of this
money was continued for many years, and there is a great number of
different dies for the same value. Each of the four shillings here

294 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

shown is unlike the others, but all agree with the design ordered by
the General Court. There are many printed accounts of this money,
and references to the fact of coinage, which I have not thought neces-
sary to quote here.

In 1776, two or three pieces were prepared as patterns for a pro-
posed coinage of copper for the State of Massachusetts. One of them
is in my collection, and is number XII. of this series. It is thus de-
scribed : Massachusetts state ; a pine-tree, and in the field char-
acters resembling 1 C L M, and conjectured to mean " One cent lawful
money." Reverse : liberty and virtue ; in exergue 1776 ; the
Goddess of Liberty, sitting on a globe, facing the left, holding in her
right hand a liberty-cap, and with her left supporting herself by a long
spear ; at her feet is a small animal. Copper, size 20. Nothing is
known of its origin, but it has naturally been said to be the work
of Paul Revere: it is considered to be unique. In 1786 the State
ordered an issue of cents and half-cents, of which specimens follow,
numbers XIII.— XVI., thus described : commonwealth ; an Indian
standing facing the left, resting his right hand on a bow, and holding
an arrow in his left ; before his face is a star. Reverse : Massachu-
setts ; in exergue 1787 or 1788; an eagle displayed, with an olive-
branch in right claw, and in left arrows ; on his breast is a shield, with
the value, cent or half-cent.

Number XVII. is of English origin, and has an elephant on one side,
and on the other, god : preserve : new: England : 1694. Copper,
size 18£. It is excessively rare, not more than two or three being
known, and came from the collection of J. J. Mickley, of Philadelphia,
long the best in this country.

Number XVIII. is still more rare, only one other being known to
collectors. It is of the Bermudas or Sommer Islands, where, Captain
John Smith says, " they had for a time a certain kind of brass money,
with a hogge on one side, in memory of the abundance of hogges
which were found at their first landing." The coin has on one side an
antique ship under sail, and on the other a hog, or rather a wild-boar,
with the inscription, "sommer islands," and the value XII., showing
that it was probably a token for a shilling. Snelling described this
identical specimen, in 1769, as being in the cabinet of Thomas Hollis :
it came to me from the collection of Mr. Mickley. It is of copper,
size 20.

In 1659, Lord Baltimore issued a coinage of silver for his province
of Maryland ; a set of which is shown by numbers XIX.-XXL, com-
prising shilling, sixpence, and fourpence. CiECiLivs : dns : terr^e-

1870.] MEDALS AND COINS RELATING TO AMERICA. 295

MARiiE : &ct. ; the head of Lord Baltimore facing the left. Reverse :
crescite : et : mvltiplicamini ; his coat-of-arms and coronet, and
at each side of it the numerals of value, XIL, VI., and IV. respec-
tively. These end the series of colonial money.

The next few pieces are patterns, prepared before the adoption of
the cent in 1793. Nos. XXII. and XXIII. came from the collection
of Mr. Mickley, and are considered unique : I certainly know of no
others, nova constellatio ; an eye surrounded by rays, between
which are thirteen stars. Reverse: libertas . justitia . 1783; a
wreath, within which are U. S., and the numerals 1000 and 500 re-
spectively. These seem to be pieces of 1000 and 500 units, as
proposed by Gouverneur Morris in 1782, and sent to the President
of Congress as specimens in April, 1783. In this month, also, Robert
Morris wrote : " I sent for Mr. Dudley, who delivered me a piece of
silver coin, being the first that has been struck as an American coin."
The smaller one is probably meant by Samuel Curwen, who wrote
15th May, 1784: "Mr. Bartlett presented me with a medal struck in
Philadelphia: in a round compartment stands, U. S. . 5 . 1783;
round, Libertas et Justitia; on the other side, in the centre, an eye
surrounded by a glory ; the whole encompassed by thirteen stars, —
with the legend, Nova Constellatio" The piece does not exactly an-
swer to this description, but there is no other which comes so near.
The design is frequently found in copper of the same year, and, with
a slight difference, of 1785.

Numbers XXIV. and XXV. are of the highest rarity, only two or
three others being known. They are identical, except that one has
on the edge the words, to be esteemed be useful. They are
thus described: liberty parent of science & industry; in the
field 1792 ; a head of Liberty facing the right, with flowing curly
hair ; on the edge of the bust is the artist's name, birch. Reverse :
united states of America ; a wreath of olive, within which are
the words one cent, and, below, t ^q. Copper, size 21. They were
designed in Philadelphia by the artist whose name they bear, and are
much larger than the cent as adopted, and issued in 1793. It is not
easy to say why the design on them was not approved, as the head
is more beautiful than is seen on the common cent, and the motto
is certainly very expressive. There are two smaller patterns in the
same style, which, though less rare than the large ones, are wanting
in my collection. Numbers XXVI. and XXVII. are patterns, of the
same year, for a dime and half-dime, with the same inscription, but
abbreviated for the small size of the coins ; the heads are quite differ-

296 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

ent ; each has on the reverse an eagle flying, and below, the words
"disme" and "half disme," respectively.

The remaining pieces here described are medals, all relating to
American history.

I. A map of the New World, and round it the inscription, gentes

SERVIENT EI DONEC VENIAT TEMPUS QUO EJ1DEM AB IPSO SERVITU-

tem exigent. Jer. 27, v. 7. Reverse : View of a bay, with many
ships in it and near it ; below the inscription, in seven lines : vi.

ID SEPT. Clo.IO.CXXVIII . AUSPIC . FOED . REGIM . BELG . SOCIET .
IND . OCCID . DUCTU . P. P . HEYNI . POTITA . EST . IN . ET . SUB . MA-
TANZA . SINU . CUBA . INS . REGIA . CLASSE . ARGENTEA . REGNI .

nov^e . hisp. ; around : filia babil quasi area calcabitur ab
aquilone tempore messis eius. Jerem. 51, v. 33 et 48. Silver,
size 40. This medal celebrates the capture of a Spanish treasure-fleet
in the Bay of Matanzas, Cuba, in September, 1628, by the Dutch,
under Admiral Peter Heyn, who was in consequence created Lieu-
tenant-Admiral of Holland. I have another smaller and less interest-
ing medal on the same event.

II. FR . CHRIST . DE . LEVI . D . DAMPVILLE . P . FRANC . PROREX .

America ; bust of the Duke, with long flowing hair, and in richly
decorated armor, facing the right; below the bust, I. hardy, f. 1658.
Reverse: Ex . te . enim . exiet . dux . qui . regat . populum .
meum ; a shield with a coat of four quarters, on a mantle of ermine,
and crowned by a ducal coronet. Bronze, size 31. This is a medal
of Francois Christophe de Levi, Due de Dampville, who was first ap-
pointed Viceroy of America in 1644, and in 1655 obtained a new
patent as Viceroy of the Islands and Main Land of America, including
Guiana, the country on both sides the Amazon, &c. The irreverent
quotation on the medal must refer to the family name, and derives its
point from the absurd claims to antiquity made by the French family
of Levis.

III. ludovicus magnus rex christianissimus ; head of Louis
XIV., with curling hair, facing the right ; below the bust, dollin. f.
Reverse: francia in novo orbe victrix; in exergue, kebeca
liberata, m.dc.xc. ; a crowned woman representing the city of
Quebec, seated on a rock, resting her left arm on the shield of France,
and pressing her right foot on a shield, which seems to bear stars ;
behind are English flags and pine-trees, at her feet a beaver, and at
one side the river-god St. Lawrence. Bronze, size 26. This, of course,
refers to the melancholy failure of the expedition from New England
against Canada in 1690.

1870.] MEDALS AND COINS KELATING TO AMERICA. 297

IV. and V. On both : lud. xv. rex christianiss ; head (dif-
ferent on each) of Louis XV., facing the right ; below, the initials of
the artist's name. Reverse of IV. : sub omni sidere crescunt ; in
exergue, col. franc, de lam. 1751 ; an Indian with bow and arrows,
standing near some plants, which J. take to be tobacco. Reverse of
V.: non vilius aureo ; in exergue, col. franc, de lam. 1755;
an ancient galley, with a fleece hanging from the mast. Both are of
copper, size 18. The latter medal probably commemorates some par-
ticular event connected with the fur-trade.

VI. THE GIFT OF THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF PHIL A

delphia ; the arms of the city. Reverse : kittanning destroyed
by col 1 : Armstrong; in exergue, September. 8. 1756; an Indian
village in flames, in the foreground an officer and three soldiers, one
of whom has just killed an Indian, seen falling at the right, near a
corduroy road. Pewter, size 27. This commemorates the destruc-
tion of an Indian village on the Ohio by troops under Col. John Arm-
strong, of Carlisle ; to whom, with his subordinate officers, the city of
Philadelphia voted a medal.

VII. georgius. ii. del gratia; laureate head of George II.,
facing the left. Reverse : let us look to the most high who
blessed our fathers with peace; in exergue 1757; a white man
and an Indian seated under a tree, the former handing a pipe to the
latter; in the heavens the sun is shining with wonderful brilliancy.
Silver, size 28. This medal was struck by an association of Quakers
in Philadelphia, for the purpose of presentation to the Indians, and of
promoting peace and friendship with them. Mine has evidently been
worn.

VEIL, IX., and X. all celebrate the same event. VIII., A rock, and
over it a globe, inscribed, in the proper parts, Canada. America,
resting on a prostrate naked female figure, who has just dropped a
fleur-de-lis ; at the left is a British grenadier in uniform, and at the
right a New-England sailor, waving his hat, and between them, on a
scroll, pariter . in . bella ; behind the globe is the British flag,
and, above, Fame is flying, her right hand holding a long trumpet to
her lips, and in her left two wreaths of laurel; in the distance are sev-
eral boats and a high rock ; on the rock, in the foreground, t. pingo. f.
Reverse: lovisbovrg . taken . mdcclviii; a view of the attack
on Louisburg, taken inside a battery with soldiers and guns, from one
of which a ball just fired is seen in the air, leaving a long track ; at
the right is a fortified city, and at the left a lighthouse ; on the ocean

298 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

are several ships, one of which is in flames, and a number of boats.
Silver, size 28. IX., adm 1 ; boscawen . took . cape . breton;
bust of the Admiral, in armor, facing the right. Reverse : louis-
bourg ; in exergue, iul 26 1758 ; in the foreground the ocean, with
five ships, and beyond, a curious view of the attack on the city, with
a cannon-ball just striking a high tower. Copper, size 25. X. Same
inscription ; the Admiral is in naval uniform, with a baton in his right
hand. Reverse: louisburg harbour; in exergue, iul 26 1758;
a similar scene, but reversed in position, and without the cannon-ball.
Copper, size 23. Nothing need be said about these medals, except
that the first is a very beautiful one.

XL Britannia; in the field, to right, wolfe, — to left, savn-
ders ; a classic female head, facing the left, and, below, a wreath,
through which are crossed an antique standard and a trident. Re-
verse : Quebec, taken mdcclix ; in exergue, soc. p. a. c.; the
winged figure of Victory, with a palm in her left hand, with her right
places a wreath of laurel on an antique military trophy, in which is
the shield of France, and at its foot sits a captive bound to its base ;
beyond is seen the prow of a galley. Silver, size 25. XIL, the con-
qvest op Canada compleated ; Neptune seated, holding an oar,
and leaning on the prow of a galley, a beaver running up his leg ;
beyond is an antique standard, with the name amherst inscribed in a
wreath, a lion above it ; in exergue, the shield of France, a bow, quiver,
and tomahawk. Reverse: Montreal taken mdcclx; in exergue,
soc. promotino arts and commerce ; a female figure personifying
France, seated under a pine-tree weeping; before her the shield
of France, a sword and tomahawk, and, behind, an eagle on a rock.
Silver, size 26. This medal is copied from the famous " Judaea Capta"
of the Romans. Both of these were of course struck by the Society
for Promoting Arts and Commerce to celebrate the events recorded on
them.

XIIL, XIV., and XV. are all in honor of one man. XIII., gvliel-
mvs pitt ; bust of Pitt, in flowing wig, facing the left ; on edge of
bust, t. pingo f. Reverse : the man who . having saved the

PARENT . PLEADED WITH SUCCESS FOR HER CHILDREN. Copper, size

26. XIV., libertatis vindex . gul : pitt ; a rude head of Pitt,
in a wig, at three-quarter face to the right. Reverse : Britannia et
America iunctje ; a wreath, within which are two hands clasped
over a sword with a liberty-cap on the point. Copper, size 21. This
medal is very rare, and nothing is known of its origin. XV., the .

1870.] MEDALS AND COINS RELATING TO AMERICA. 299

RESTORER OF . COMMERCE. 1766. NO . STAMPS ; bust of Pitt, facing

the left. Reverse : thanks to the friends of liberty and
trade; in the field, America; a man-of-war, with flags flying
Copper, size 18. The inscription on this piece sufficiently explains it
XVL, d'vlugtende americaane n van rohde yland atjg! 1778 ;
a view of Rhode Island, with soldiers fleeing across it ; to the right
are boats filled with men, and to the left three men-of-war. Reverse :
de admiraals flag van admiraal howe 1779 ; a British man-
of-war. Brass, size 20i This curious little Dutch medal celebrates
the evacuation of Rhode Island by the Americans on the approach of
the British fleet under Admiral Howe.

XVII., JOANNI PAVLO JONES CLASSIS PRAEFECTO. COMITIA

Americana ; bust of Paul Jones, in uniform, facing the right ;
on edge of bust, dupre . f. Reverse : hostivm navibvs captis

AVT FVGATIS . AD ORAM SCOTIAE XXIII. SEPT. M.DCCLXXVIIII.

dupre . f. ; a view of the fight between the " Bon Homme Richard"
and the " Serapis," &c. Silver, size 36. This is one of the medals
voted by Congress, and is one of the most beautiful and interesting.
We find allusions to it in the letters of Jones, who wrote thus, 9th
September, 1788 : " The position of the two ships is not much amiss ;
but the accessory figures are much too near the principal objects ; and
he has placed them to windward instead of being, as they really were,
to leeward of the Bon Homme Richard and Serapis."

XVIII. REBELLION TO TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD ; a

woman in armor, with a 'sword in her right hand, and a spear in her
left, pressing her right foot on a man lying prostrate, and with her
left foot keeping down a chain, which he holds in his left hand ; near
is a crown on the ground ; above, in a label, Virginia. Reverse :
happy while united; in exergue, 1780; a white man and an
Indian seated under a curious tree, and shaking hands ; the Indian
holds a pipe ; at the left is the ocean, on which are three vessels ; the
piece has a loop formed of an eagle's wing and a pipe. Copper, size 46.
Nothing whatever is known about this strange piece, nor another
specimen. I consider it a great curiosity.

XIX. COLUMBIA and WASHINGTON: commanded by J.
KENDRICK ; a ship and a sloop on the ocean. Reverse : FITTED
at BOSTON, JST. AMERICA for the PACIFIC OCEAN by
J. Barrell, S. Brown, C. Bulfinch, J. Darby, C. Hatch, J. M.
Pintard. 1787. Silver, size 27. An account of the voyage of these
vessels, and the discovery of Columbia River, may be read in Green-

300 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

how's " Memoir of the North-west Coast of North America," in which
it is stated that each vessel took out a number of these medals, struck
for the purpose of distribution among the natives of the places she might
visit. Probably most of them were thus used, for they are now quite
rare. Unfortunately the designer's name is not on them.

XX. TH . JEFFERSON PRESIDENT OF THE U. S. 4 MARCH 1801 ;

bust of Jefferson, facing the left; below, the initial of the artist's
name, — R. Reverse: under his wing is protection; in ex-
ergue: to commemorate iuly 4 1776; a female figure, in armor,
stands at the left, supporting with her right hand a long pole, on
which is a liberty-cap, and with her left hand holding a scroll in-
scribed, Declar. independence, over a rock inscribed, consti-
tution, near which are a horn of plenty, a drum, and military
equipments ; in the air is an eagle with a wreath in his beak. Silver,
size 29. Unfortunately, this beautiful medal has no history : I sup-
pose it was struck by some political society to commemorate the tri-
umph of party in the election of Jefferson.

XXL JOHN QUINCY ADAMS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

march 4. 1825; head of Adams, facing the right; on edge of bust,
furst. Reverse: science gives peace and America plenty,
furst. f. ; Science, represented by Minerva, supporting a spear with
her left hand, with her right presents an olive-branch to America,
personified by an Indian seated on a horn of plenty; at the left,
behind Minerva, is an eagle on a stump of a tree. Silver, size 32£.
This is perhaps the most beautiful medal yet produced in this country.

XXII. N. ENGLAND SOC FOR PROMOTION OF MANUFACTURES

and mechanic arts. 1826; head of Archimedes, facing the right;
below the bust, archimedes, and on its edge, gobrecht. f. Re-
verse: genius intelligence and industry triumph; a carding-
machine, a steam-engine, and a steamboat, each in a framed panel ;
above, the names archimedes galileo newton franklin watt
fulton, shedding a flood of rays over the clouds ; at the sides
are various plants, and, below, c gobrecht. f. Silver, size 40.
This is also a very handsome medal ; and both this and the last
are strangely rare, considering their recent date. The designers,
Furst and Gobrecht, were long in the employ of the United-States
Mint. Furst designed most of the medals presented for the victories
of 1812-15; and Gobrecht, in 1836 and 1838, designed some exquis-
ite patterns, which were so far in advance of the taste of the officers
of the Mint, that they were not adopted.

1870.] MEDALS AND COINS RELATING TO AMERICA. 301

XXIII. HENRY CLAY ELECTED PRESIDENT A. D. 1844; head of

Clay, facing the left. Reverse: the mill-boy of the slashes
inaugurated march 4 T .? 1845 ; a man on horseback, near a mill.
Brass, size 16. This is one of the few lying medals in the American
series. There are several such of other countries, showing that
medals can no more be absolutely depended on than any other form
of historic evidences. The list of medals, of all countries, which com-
memorate events that never took place, is long and very curious.

The last ten medals form a series, which, for lack of a better name,
may be called the Revolutionary Peace Medals. This includes all
medals struck to celebrate any of the events connected with the suc-
cessful ending of the war of American independence, with the recog-
nition of this fact by foreign powers, and with the signing of the
treaty by which Great Britain finally accepted it with all its conse-
quences. Some of these medals are excessively rare, and I doubt if
another equally extensive collection is in existence. There are one or
two more, not here described, whose absence prevents even this from
being an absolutely complete collection.

I. libertas . Americana ; in exergue, 4 juil . 1776; on edge
of bust, dupre; a beautiful head of Liberty facing the left, with
hair loosely streaming backwards ; over the right shoulder a pole, on
which is a Phrygian cap. Reverse : non sine diis animosus infans.
(Horace, Book III. Ode IV., 20); in exergue, \l oct. }J|J; on
platform, dupre. f ; the infant Hercules in his cradle, strangling two
serpents, while Pallas protects him, with a spear in her right hand,
and in her left a shield charged with the lilies of France, against
which a leopard is throwing himself. Silver, size 30.

The dates on the reverse are those of the surrender of Burgoyne
and of Cornwallis. This exquisite medal is of French work : the idea
was Franklin's, and he caused it to be struck under his direction,
assisted by Sir William Jones, who supplied the mottoes.*

* These statements are proved by the following extracts from Franklin's "Works,
Sparks's edition : " This puts me in mind of a medal I have had a mind to strike, since
the late great event you gave me an account of, representing the United States by the
figure of an infant Hercules in his cradle, strangling the two serpents; and France by
that of Minerva, sitting by as his nurse, with her spear and helmet, and her robe
specked with a few fleurs de lis. The extinguishing of two entire armies in one war
is what has rarely happened, and it gives a presage of the future force of our growing
empire." This medal was subsequently executed, under the direction of Dr. Franklin,
with some variation in the device. — Letter to Robert E. Livingston, March 4, 1782,
vol. ix. p. 173. " The engraving of my medal, which you know was projected before

302 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

II. Three standing figures ; the middle one, a warrior, personifying
Holland, with his right hand grasps that of a woman in barbarous
dress, who leans on a shield, inscribed, de vereenigde staaten
van noord America ; at her feet are a sceptre and broken shackles ;
at the right is a woman, holding in her right hand an olive-branch,
and leaning on a shield inscribed, groot brittanjen ; at her feet lies
a snake, and behind her sits a dog, who is kept back by the extended
left hand of the warrior ; above him, in the clouds, is an angel, carry-
ing a liberty-cap to the United States ; in exergue, b. c. v. calker f.
Reverse: Aan de Staaten van Friesland ter dankbaare

NAGEDACHTENISSE VAN DE L/ANDSDAGEN IN FeBR. EN APR.
MDCCLXXXII TOEGEWTD DOOR DE BURGER SOCIETEIT DOOR

Vryheid en Yver te Leeuwarden. (To the States of Friesland
in grateful remembrance of the Assemblies held in February and
April 1782. Dedicated by the Civic Society " Through Freedom and
Zeal" at Leeuwarden). A right hand from the clouds holds the
crowned shield of West Frisia. Silver, size 28.

This medal and the five following are of Dutch origin. The best
explanation of the events causing them and the dates borne on them is
found in the letters of John Adams, as printed in the " Diplomatic
Correspondence of the American Revolution." He wrote from Am-
sterdam, 27th Feb., 1782 : " Friesland has at last taken the provincial
resolution to acknowledge the independence, of which United America
is in full possession." In a later letter he communicates the resolution
as passed 26th Feb. The action of April will be more properly noticed
with the next medal.

III. libera soror. ; in exergue, solemni decr. [eto] agn.

the peace, is but just finished. None are yet struck in hard metal, but will be in a few
days. In the mean time, having this good opportunity by Mr. Penn, I send you one of
the epreuves. You will see that I have profited by some of your ideas, and adopted the
mottoes you were so kind as to furnish." — Letter to Sir William Jones, March 17, 1783,
id. p. 501. " I have caused to be struck here the medal which I formerly mentioned to
you, the design of which you seemed to approve. I enclose one of them in silver, for the
President of Congress, and one in copper, for yourself: the impression on copper is
thought to appear hest, and you will soon receive a number for the members. I have
presented one to the King, and another to the Queen, both in gold, and one in silver to
each of the ministers, as a monumental acknowledgment, which may go down to future
ages, of the obligations we are under to this nation. It is mighty well received, and
gives general pleasure. If the Congress approve of it, as I hope they will, I may add some-
thing on the die (for those to be struck hereafter) to show that it was done by their
order, which I could not venture to do till I had authority for it." — Letter to Robert JR.
Livingston, April 15, 1783, id. p. 515.

1870.] MEDALS AND COINS RELATING TO AMERICA. 303

[ita] 19 apr. MDCCLXXxn; at the left an armed woman, per-
sonifying Holland, with her right hand grasps that of an Indian queen,
while on a pole in her left she holds a liberty -cap over the head of the
Indian, who stands at the right, bearing in her left hand a shield
charged with thirteen stars, a spear, and a chain which holds a leopard,
on whose head she presses her left foot; between the figures is an
altar, on which fire is burning, and above them are rays of the sun.
Eeverse : ttrannis virtute repulsa ; in exergue, sub gallee
auspiciis ; I. G. holtzhey fec ; an open landscape, with a high
rock at the left, at the base of which lies a unicorn, royally gorged,
who has broken his horn against the rock. Silver, size 28 £.

The date on this medal refers to a resolution of their " High Mighti-
nesses, the States- General of the United Provinces, Friday, April 19,
1782," which ends thus : " it has been thought fit and resolved, that
Mr. Adams shall be admitted and acknowledged in quality of Envoy
of the United States of North America to their High Mightinesses, as
he is admitted and acknowledged by the present."

IV. FAVSTISSEUO FOEDERE JVNCT.E . DIE VII OCTOB . MDCC-

lxxxii; Fame seated on the clouds, supporting with her right
hand two shields, one of Holland, the other charged with thirteen
stars ; above them is a crown, and below, the club of Hercules and
lion's skin ; her left hand holds to her lips a long trumpet. Reverse :
justitiam et NON temxere divos (Virgil, iEneid, Book VI. 620) ;
in exergue, S . P . Q . Amst . sacrvm ; I. G. hoetzhey fec. ; at
the left is a pyramid, on the base of which hang flowers and a scroll
inscribed prodromvs (a forerunner) ; on the front of the pyramid
the crowned shield of Amsterdam rests against crossed fasces ; Mer-
cury, flying through the air, is about to place a wreath on the crown ;
in the foreground are a basket of fruit and an anchor, on which stands
a cock, whose left claw holds something not easily recognizable ; in
the distance is the ocean, on which are several vessels. Silver, size 29.

V. The same medal, size 21.

VI. en dextra fidesque ; in exergue, den. 7 October 1782.
i. y. b. ; at the right, a woman sits on a bale of goods, resting her
left arm on the shield of Holland ; near her stands a pole, on the top
of which is a liberty-cap ; her right hand is extended to receive an
olive-branch from a man in classic dress standing at the left, who offers
it with his right hand, and with his left supports a staff, from which
flies the " Stars and Stripes " ; near him is a barrel, filled to overflow-
ing with Indian corn. Reverse : Heil, vrugestreex Amerikaax :

304 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

Gansch Neerland neemt uw vriendschap aan. Gods gunst
vereen twee vrije landen, tot weerztds nut, door vaste
rand en. (Hail to you, American, who have fought out your free-
dom : All Netherland accepts your friendship. God's grace unite two
free lands, to mutual good, through solid ties.) Below is a caduceus,
between a branch of olive and a branch of laurel. Silver, size 20£.

The dies for these medals were evidently prepared in advance of the
event, for we find in Mr. Adams's letters that the signing of the trea-
ties, which was to have taken place on October 7, was put off till the
next day, on which, October 8, " were executed the Treaty of Com
merce and the convention concerning recaptures."

VII. nederland verklaard America vry. (Netherland de-
clares America free.) In exergue, i. m. lageman; a woman in
classic dress, holding in her right hand a bundle of seven arrows, and
supporting a lance, on the top of which is a liberty-cap, in her left a
caduceus ; at her feet are a cactus and a horn of plenty, and in the
distance are fortifications and a range of hills. Reverse : de alge-
meene wensch. (The universal desire.) In exergue, 1782; a
group of bales and barrels, a boat with one mast, and a tall trident-
headed staff, from which hang the flags of Holland and the United
States. Silver, size 21^.

VIII. libertas Americana; in exergue, MDCCLXXXIII; in
field, CE ; Louis XVI. in royal robes, and on his throne, facing the
right, pointing with his left hand to a shield charged with thirteen bars,
which a woman, representing either Liberty or Authority, has just
hung on a column, surmounted by a cap of liberty. Reverse : com-
mvni consensv ; Pallas standing, facing the right, supporting with
her right hand a spear, by the side of which an olive springs up ; her
left hand holds a ribbon, tied in a bow, from which hang the shields
of France, Great Britain, Spain, and Holland ; on the ground lies a
shield with the head of Medusa. Silver, size 29.

IX. sic hostes concordia ivngit amicos ; in exergue, prv-
dentia & fatis ; in field to the left, maho, to right, gibr ; at the
left a woman, in classic dress, with an olive-branch in her left hand,
with her right grasps that of another woman, who supports with her
left hand a pole, on which is a liberty-cap ; between the figures are a
horn of plenty, the shields of Ireland, France, and Spain ; behind the
first figure is the shield of Scotland, and behind the second a shield
charged with several bars, for the United States ; in the field at each
side is a battle between a fort and several vessels, and above the

1870.] MEDALS AND COINS RELATING TO AMERICA. 305

ligures is a triangle, from which proceed rays ; in the exergue is a
view of a large fortified seaport-town. Reverse: ensibvs ex mar-
tis lvx pacis l^ta resvrgit ; in exergue, ope vvlcani 1783;
a woman, with an olive-branch in right hand and a horn of plenty in
left, stands on a man in armor lying prostrate with a broken sword in
right hand ; in the distance is an open sea, with mountains and vessels
to left, and a battle between a fort and several vessels to right ; in the
air above is the sun in splendor, and an angel flying to right, with a
wreath in left hand, and in right a trumpet through which he sounds
the words fiat pax. Tin, size 27 1 .

I know nothing of the origin of this medal, and have seen but one
other specimen, which was in the Mickley collection. On the obverse,
allusion is made to the capture of Port Mahon in Minorca, and the
defence of Gibraltar, both which events happened during the war of
American independence.

X. felicitas Britannia et America; in exergue, MDCC-
LXXXIII Sep t . 4; at the right a woman, personifying Great
Britain, is seated, facing the left ; by her side is a shield with the
crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, in her left hand is a spear,
and with her right she seems to grasp the left hand of an Indian
queen, who advances toward her, with a bow in right hand, and a
quiver behind her back; between them flies a dove with an olive-
branch; the distance seems to present a view of London, in which
St. Paul's Cathedral and the Monument are plainly seen. Reverse,
in centre : we are one ; on a ring, from which extend thirteen rays,
American congress ; beyond the rays a circle of thirteen rings,
inscribed, masschs, n. hamps, connect, r. island, n. iorke, ? ,

PENSILVA, DELAWARE, MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, N. CAROLIN, S. CA-

roli, Georgia. Tin, size 25.

The date on this piece is that of the treaty by which Great Britain
acknowledged the independence of her former colonies, now the
United States of America. A similar piece, and the only other one I
have seen, is in the cabinet of Charles Clay of Manchester, England,
President of the Manchester Numismatic Society. He describes the
edge as reading " Continental Currency," but mine has an ornamental
milling, like some old Spanish dollars. The execution of both is very
rude.

306 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [April,

Mr. Frothingham spoke of an interesting letter relating to
the battle of Lexington, which lay upon the table, of which
Mr. Appleton has furnished a copy for the " Proceedings " : —

BATTLE OF LEXINGTON.*

April 18 rt — We are in the utmost confusion; some of the Troops
last Night went out of Boston, & have just Heared that they Have
killed two or three Men.

21 s ' — The night before last the troops went in Boats from Boston
to Horse Farm & so marched to Concord. In their march killed 8
men, but who fired first I believe none can tell. They went on to Con-
cord, and destroyed the Magazine & Stores, then retired to Charles-
town, firing on our people & they on them. A most terrible Day it was,
the Women & Children fled out of Town, as we expected they would
come into it. Our family went up to M r Temples ; we just escaped the
Army, having reached M rs Irelands when the Regulars got to the
Neck, & ours come down Winters Hill. The Regulars marched up
Cap n Fentons or Bunkers Hill and ours returned Back again. None
fired after they got into Town. Then they got leave of the Town to let
their Men go into the Meeting House & town House, till they could
get over. The Boats come and Carryed them over, when the people
tho't we were all safe, & sent up to M r Temples where Vast Num-
bers from Town had fled. Two M r Russels & wives went to Town
& found they had brought over another Regiment of Soldiers, who
in the night encamped on the Hill, and the Town was again in the
greatest distress. In the morning M r Temple got a pass for as many as
would to return Home. I went with him, but O ! I cant describe to
you the Melancholy sight, to behold the preparations that was making
on the Hill, & before I reached home met 500 more marching up to
the Hill. The Town I thought was gone, before night thot it woud be
so fortifyed that we must give up or Die. But thro' the goodness of
God in three Hours every Soldier was out of the Town & we in Quiet.
They were frightened & fled as If pursued ; but no man pursued
them ; they heared an Army was come against Boston. This but an
imperfect ace* but cant do more at present.

Mr. Appleton presented the original manuscript of a circu-
lar signed by sixty-four merchants and firms in Boston, to be

* Probably written by Dr. Isaac Foster, of Charlestown, Harv. Coll. 1758, to his sister
Eleanor, wife of Dr. Nathaniel Coffin of Portland, Me.

1870.] " ORIGINAL BANK CIRCULAR, 1809." 307

sent to the country banks, urging them to provide for the re-
demption of their bills. As an incident occurring over sixty
years ago, connected with the financial history of Boston, it
may not be regarded as unworthy a place in our " Proceedings."
The circular is labelled " Original Bank Circular, 1809 " : —

Boston,
To the Cashier of Bank.

Sir: —

The subscribers, merchants, and traders in the town of Boston, from
a disposition to afford every facility and convenience to their country
customers, have been in the habit, since the establishment of Country
Banks, of receiving the bills issued by them in payment for goods or
debts at par, — and which they were for a good while enabled again to
circulate without loss.

Within the last two years, however, many Country Banks have un-
warrantably abused this confidence placed in their bills, by refusing
payment of them when presented, or by opposing every obstacle which
chicanery and artifice could invent to delay or evade it. The obvious
consequences have followed, the public confidence has been shaken,
their faith in written promises of institutions avowedly established as
patterns of punctuality no longer exists. Country Bank paper has de-
preciated, and cannot be negotiated without a discount which varies
from two to four per cent. We have, however, in hopes this unwarrant-
able conduct would be abandoned, continued to receive this paper at
par, and borne the loss of the discount, till our patience is exhausted
and our suffering interest calls loudly for a change of measures. We
have therefore found ourselves compellejd to send the bills home for
payment, and in case of refusal shall proceed to the collection by due
course of law. We beg you will communicate this letter to the Presi-
dent and Directors of Bank, and hope that by a prompt pay-
ment of their bills they will save us from the disagreeable necessity of
resorting to the legal alternative."

We are, Sir, your very obedient servants,

Storrow & Brown Charles & Geo. Barrett

Haven, Williams, & Co. William Appleton & Co.

Bond & Prentiss Howe & Spear

Gassett, Upham, & Co. Samuel Mat

Eice, Reed, & Co. Jno. Binney

Peter Dickerman Jno. Grew

Phineas Foster Samuel Billings

308

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

[May,

Minchin & Welch
Munroe & Grostenor
Seth Wright & Son
Whitney & Dorr
Samuel Dorr
Luther Faulkner & Co.
David Greenough
B. & T. Wiggin
S. & N. Appleton
Bellows, Cordis, & Jones
Sewall, Salisbury, & Co.
Gore, Miller, & Parker
S. & H. Higginson
Andrew Eliot
Joshua Davis
Stevens & Joy
Benj. Rich
Parker & Appleton
Knowles & Hurd
Otis & Dwight
James & Jno. Carter
Bryant P. Tilden
Timothy Williams
Thos. C. Amory & Co.
Eben. Francis

Joseph Tildbn
David S. Eaton
Colburn & Gill
Giles Lodge
Cabot & Lee
John Tappan
Jonathan Phillips
S. J. Prescott & Co.
Lovejoy & Taggard
Joseph Nye & Son
N. & R. Ereeman
Eben'r. & Jno. Breed

TORREY, SYMMES, & Co.

Tuckerman, Shaw, & Rogers
F. & S. Clark
Smith & Otis
Freeman & Cushing
Kirk Boott
Pratt & Andrews
Richardson & Wheeler
Thomas Wigglesworth
Whitney, Cutler, & Hammond
Cornelius Coolidge & Co.
Wm. Shimmin
Uriah Cotting.

MAY MEETING, 1870.

A stated monthly meeting of the Society was held this day,
Thursday, May 12th, at eleven o'clock, a.m. ; the President in
the chair.

The record of the last meeting was read.

In the absence of the Librarian, the list of donors was read
by the Recording Secretary.

Among the donations announced was a manuscript copy of
the oration delivered by Nathaniel Appleton Haven, Esq., of
Portsmouth, N.H., May 21, 1823, two hundred years from the
landing of the first settlers ; and of the poem on that occasion
by 0. W. B. Peabody, Esq., — presented by George B. Chase,
Esq., of Boston.*

* This oration, in 1827, was included in a printed volume, entitled " The Remains
of Nathaniel Appleton Haven, with a Memoir of his Life. By George Ticknor."

1870.] LETTER RELATING TO WILLIAM PYNCHON. 309

Mr. Whitmore presented a copy of the earliest printed Cata-
logue of the Society's Library, containing some manuscript
additions.

The Hon. William T. Davis, of Plymouth, was elected a
Resident Member.

The Recording Secretary said he understood that our asso-
ciate, the Rev. R. C. Waterston, was about to start on a trip to
California, over the Pacific Railroad, on a tour of observa-
tion and pleasure, to be absent for some months ; and he
offered the following vote, which was unanimously adopted : — *

Voted, That the Rev. Mr. Waterston be requested, during
his absence on his western tour, to represent this Society on
any occasion that may be agreeable to himself, or may be for
the interest of the Society.

Mr. Appleton communicated the following letter from Henry
Smith, of Wyrardisbury, or Wraysbury, Bucks, England, to
John Pynchon, of Springfield, Mass., dated February 20,
1662, relating to the death of William Pynchon, one of the
early settlers of Springfield, and furnishing the exact date of
that event, which has hitherto been wanting in all published
accounts of him : —

Deare Brother Pynchon: — Our most Cordiall love and re-
spects salute you and yo rs Ioying in y e continuance and extension of y e
goodness of God toward yow all, as by yo r Letters reed appeares.
S r , y e only wise Lord in whose hand is all o r wayes & tymes, all
whose works are done in wonderfull and admirable councel^are very
just holy and good even when they seemingly speake forth to vs the
sharpest and sorest tryalls crosses and temptations, (as to Abra : when
to offer vp his only Isaack.) dayly intstructeth vs both by bis word &
workes to live in a dayly expectation of and p r peration for changes in
y s o T pilgrimadge. Its his vsuall course of dealinge with all his Saints
to give y m occations of dayly exercise of those p r ciouse graces (y e worke
of his holy Spt in y r hearts) w c h else would contract rust, or ly in

* Mr. Waterston went with a large number of gentlemen and ladies, forming a
^arty projected under the auspices of the Board of Trade of this city. They left Bos-
ton on the 23d of May, and arrived at San Francisco early in the morning of the
1st of June. See Boston Newspapers of 23d May and 2d June. — Eds.

310 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

obscurity not shining forth soe splendid and bewteose to y e prayse of
his gloriouse Grace in Je : Cfit The decree of God hath Limited us
o r stations so o r tymes and dayes beyond w ch we canot may not pass :
The same is manifested in his late visitation vpon yo r and our most
loved and much Hon rd fFather who expired and drew his last breath in
Wyrardsbury Octobr: 29 th , a loss to vs vnrepayrable, a gayne to him
vnexpressable, making a blessed change from earth to heaven, from a
state of corruption, to a state of incorruption, from im'pfection to per-
fection ; from a state of sin & sorrow to compleated joy and bliss,
celebrating y e everlasting prayses of God and of the Lambe, who
hath redeemed vs with his blood. Bro : I p r sume yow are not alto-
gether vnp r pared for y s sad tydings, w c h I am occationed as one of
Jobs messengers to acquaint yow with, resolving all yo r thoughts &
greifes into y* holy speech of his : The Lord gave and y e Lord hath
taken away, Blesed be y e name of y e Lord. Its one of God's vnal-
terable appoyntmts y* all must dye. Death passeth on all men in as
much as all have sined w c h should learne vs Davids silence and submis-
sion, because y e lo : hath done it ; and y e rather seeing it pleased Him
to continue him among vs soe longe to such an age, giveing vs y e op-
portunitys to reape y e fruite of his godly & grasciouse exampls &
councells, w c h, now he is taken from vs, y e lord help vs y* we may
practically ffollow, so running y* we may obtayne y e pmised recom-
pence of reward, y e Crowne of imortality & life, w c h he is now
poseseed of. Dear Brother, this pvidence (I suppose doth vnavoyd-
ably call yow to make a voyadge into these partes w*h all possible
speede for y e transacting and settling of yo r affayrs heere, some things
not being in soe good a posture as were to be wished : viz : y e busy-
ness of Carletons administration, w c h was like to be wholly obstructed
on my ffathers death ; But M r Wickins a faithful freind being intrusted
in his will to act in his behalfe, hath slacked no diligence or paynes
therin, he will write to yow himself, therefore ile say no more to that.
You are made sole Executor, M r Wickins w*h my self are desired to
be overseers of y e same in yo r absence. I carryed y e will to him to
London, w c h he hath since pved in the Prerogative Court, who will
send yow a Coppy thereof. I was lately at London of purpose to comu-
nicate yo r letters and Bills to him, for goods to be sent this yeare and
care will be taken to send y e greatest pt of them, by y e first good ship.
Though vpon o r conference w% M r Bridge & partnrs they make
scruple of parting w*h any mony of yo rs in y r hands, w*h out a particu-
lar order from yo r owne hand y* w c h yow give to my fFather for y c dis-
pose thereof being (they say) dead w*h him.

1870.] " ST. REGIS BELL." 311

I spake with some of y e men to whom yow directed yo r bills, for
goods, and they were all cheerfull to send wnT yow write for, though
they stay for payment till y e next returne of ships. In much hast &
breifly I give yow a hint of things, hoping this may come to yo r hands,
before other ships in w c h goods will be sent, by whom if God please
yow shall heare further ! Clarke is not yet arived, but dayly ex-
pected.

S*. my selfe and wife w th all o r children are at present in comfortable
health, who all present y r endeared respts to yow & yo rs : The mercy
of y e blessed mediator overshaddow yow & yo rs and guide yow in all
yo T vndertakings y* in due tyme we may see yo r face to o r mutuall
Comfort soe prays

Yo r ever Lovinge Brother

Henry Smith.
Wyrardsbury ffebr : 20th
1662.

Addressed,

ffor his Deare and Welbeloved

Brother M 1 ' John Pynchon,

at his house in Springfeild
on Conecticott.
p r sent

New-England

Mr. Dayis communicated the following paper on

" The St. Regis Bell"

On the 29th of February, 1703-4, the town of Deerfield, in
Massachusetts, was sacked and burned by a party of two hundred
French and one hundred and forty-two Indians, under Major Hertel
de Rouville, and one hundred and twelve men, women, and children
were carried into captivity, including the Rev. John Williams, and his
wife and children. A full account of this raid is given by Hoyt, in
his book on "Indian Wars," published in Greenfield in 1824. In that
book, as I believe, appeared the first printed statement in relation to
what has been since commonly known as the story of the " Bell of
St. Regis." That story has since been the basis of many publications
in poetry and prose, and has invariably been received by the public as
substantially true. I propose to state the results to which I have been
led by my own inquiries as to its authenticity.

Hoyt, who is a perfectly honest and truthful historian, states that
Eunice, a daughter of the Rev. John Williams, never returned from

312 MASSACHUSETTS HISTOKICAL SOCIETY. [May,

her captivity, but married an Indian ; and he adds that " recently one
of the great grandsons of Mr. Williams, under the name of Eleazer
Williams, has been educated by his friends in New England, and is
now employed as a missionary to the Indians at Green Bay, on Lake
Michigan." Hoyt goes on to say as follows : —

" In a recent visit to Montreal and Quebec, Mr. Williams made
some exertions to secure documents relative to his ancestors, particu-
larly on his grandmother's side. . . . He found a Bible, which was the
property of his great grandfather, the Rev. John Williams, in which
is the date of purchase with his name ; also the journal of Major
Rouville, kept on the expedition against Deerfield in 1704, in which
he frequently mentions John Williams as 'an obstinate heretick.' From
the journal, it appears that Rouville's French troops suffered extremely
from a want of provisions on the march to Deerfield, and were in a
mutinous state when they arrived before the place ; but were kept to
their duty by the Indians, who, from their greater facility in procuring
game in the woods, and superior hardiness, were faithful to the com-
mander. Mr. Williams has also procured the journal of the command-
ing officer on the expedition against Schenectady, in 1690. These
journals were obtained at one of the principal convents, where copies
were required to be deposited on the return of the commanders of
parties, as well as with the government. Mr. Williams states that
when Deerfield was destroyed, the Indians took a small church bell,
which is now hanging in an Indian church in St. Regis. It was con-
veyed on a sledge as far as Lake Champlain, and buried, and was
subsequently taken up, and conveyed to Canada. Mr. Williams's father
and other Indians at St. Regis, are well acquainted with the facts re-
lating to the bell, as well as the destruction of Deerfield."

Hoyt adds in a note, " Communicated by Col. Elihu Hoyt, who
recently conversed with Mr. Williams."

It will be observed that Hoyt, born in Deerfield, and always residing
there, does not suggest the existence of any tradition or record in Deer-
field, bearing upon this subject ; nor does he appear to have seen the
journals spoken of by Eleazer Williams.

The evidence, traditional or documentary, existing in Deerfield in
relation to the matter, is fully and fairly stated in a letter dated
Feb. 21, 1870, addressed to me by Mr. George Sheldon, of Deerfield,
who has devoted much time to the investigation of the history of
Deerfield, and whose statements are worthy of full credit. He writes
as follows: —

1870.] "ST. REGIS BELL." 313

" This romantic legend, so often repeated, has at length come to be
accepted by most people as an historic fact. As a student of the early
history of my native town, the bell story has become to me a subject
of intense interest. Jn the course of my investigation, from a firm
believer I became an utter sceptic, but at present am all out to sea.
If there exists any satisfactory evidence anywhere, it would seem it
must be lodged in the old convents or churches in Canada. In ac-
cordance with your desire, I will give some of the reasons for the lack
of faith which is in me. . . . While not one particle of evidence has
been found (by me, at least) to support the statement of Mr. Williams,
on the other hand nothing better than negative evidence has been
found to disprove it ; but there is a good deal of that. The town
records, covering a period of twenty years before the event, are com-
plete, but give not the slightest hint that there was ever a bell in
town. Town and parish were then one. In the ' Redeemed Captive/
a minute narrative of the events of the assault, the march to Canada,
and of the captivity, and the repository of many reflections on the
condition of his church and people, Mr. Williams gives us no hint
that a bell ever summoned his flock to worship. His son Stephen has
left us another account of the same events, entering into particulars,
even more minutely than his father, and it seems almost impossible
that the bell from his father's church could have been conveyed by the
party either on poles or men's shoulders, or drawn upon a sledge,
without so attracting his boyish notice as to leave some trace upon
his journal ; . but we get no hint from him, though he was carried
to St. Louis, and lived there long enough to learn the language.

"Aaron Denio, who was born in Canada of parents captured by
Rouville at Deerfield in 1704, was a very prominent man, and lived
to a good old age in the town of Greenfield. Many stories are told of
him to this day, but none of them convey the faintest tone of a bell.
Much is known and told of the Kellogg boys and girls, who grew to be
men and women amongst the Caughnawagas, and who figured largely
in the history of this part of the colony as officers and interpreters, but
not the faintest tinkle of the bell can we wring from them. There
lives in this town a bright, smart woman of eighty-eight years, with
an astonishing memory, who tells many stories of her grandmother,
who was born less than thirty years after the massacre, and whom she
remembers perfectly ; but not the faintest murmur of the bell is heard
in them all.

" The church, at Deerfield, was square, with a four-sided roof, from

314 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

the centre of which sprung the centre belfry, which must have been
fully exposed in every direction; at a distance of about eight rods
stood the house of Benoni Stebbins, which was successfully defended
to the last by a party of sharpshooters, and several Indians and at
least one Frenchman were killed by their fire. A party in the belfry,
it would seem, must be at their mercy. A service of such a peculiar
nature, in the face of such imminent danger, could hardly have been
accomplished without leaving some mark on the traditions of the times,
but none have been discovered as yet. The field of inquiry, in this
region, seems to be about exhausted ; and I earnestly hope that some
interested antiquarian, qualified for the work, will unearth those musty
records, which are said to be deposited in convents or churches in
Canada, and set the matter at rest, one way or the other."

In further illustration of the difficulties which the attacking party
would have found in carrying away an article so cumbrous as a bell, I
annex a copy of a petition, of which the original is to be seen in the
Massachusetts Archives, with the legislative order indorsed on the
original paper.

To his Excellency the Governour together with the Hon d Council and
Representatives met in the Great and General Assembly at Boston,
May 31, 1704.

The humble petition of Jonathan Wells and Ebenezer Wright in
ihe behalfe of the company who encountered the French and Indians
at Deerfield, Feb. 29, 1704, sheweth :

1st, That we, understanding the extremity of the poor people at
Deerfield, made all possible haste to their reliefe, that we might deliver
the remnant that were left, and doe spoil on the enemy.

2dly, That, being joyned with a small number of the inhabitants
and garrison souldiers, we forced the enemy out of town, leaving a great
part of their plunder behinde them, and pursuing them about a mile and
an halfe, did great execution upon them. We saw at the time many
dead bodies, and we and others did afterwards see the manifest prints
on the snow, where other dead bodies were drawn to a hole in the
river.

Sdly, That the enemy being reinforced by a great number of fresh
men, we were overpowered, and necessitated to run to the fort; and,
in our flight, nine of the company were slain, and some others wounded ;
and some of us lost our upper garments, which we had put off before
in the pursuit.

1870.] "ST. REGIS BELL." 315

Athly, That the action was over, and the enemy withdrawn about
fourscore rods from the fort, before any of our neighbours came into
the fort.

Wherefore we doe humbly supplicate this Hon d Assembly, that ac-
cording to their wonted justice and bounty, they would consider the
service we have done in preserving many lives and much estate, and
making a spoil on the enemy, the hazzard that we run, the losse we
sustained, the afflicted condition of such as have lost near relations in
this encounter, and bestow upon us some proportionable recompence, that
we and others may be incouraged upon such occasions to be forward
and active to repell the enemy, and rescue such as shall be in distresse,
though with the uttmost peril of our lives, and your petitioners shall
pray, &c.

Jonathan Wells,
Ebenezer Wright,

In the name of the rest.

In the House of Representatives. Read a first time, June 2,
1704.

In the House of Representatives, June 8, 1704.

In answer to the petition on the other side, —

Resolved, That the losses of the petitioners be made good, and paid
out of the publick Treasury to such as sustained them, according to
their account herewith exhibited, amounting to the sum of thirty-four
pounds and seventeen shillings.

That the sum of five pounds be paid to each of the widows of those
slain, mentioned in the list annexed, being four in number.

And, although but one scalp of Indians slain by them is recovered,
yet, for their encouragement, that the sum of sixty pounds be allowed
and paid to the petitioners, whose names are contained in the said list
annexed as surviving, for scalp-money, to be equally divided amongst
them, together with all plunder whereof they give account.

James Converse, Speaker.
Sent up for concurrence, June 9, 1704.

In Council.
Read and passed in concurrence.

Isaac Addington, Secretary*

316 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

The annexed list of persons engaged in the fight bears fifty-seven
names. The plunder taken from the enemy is described in a schedule,
of which the following is a copy : —

An account of w* plunder was taken from the enemy, and solde by y e com-
pany on the last of February, 1703-4.

£ s. d.

John Wells, one gun 01 09 00

" " one bariell of gun 00 03 06

Samuel Barnard, one gun 01 09 00

Thomas Russell, one bariell & lock 01 03 00

John Matone, a pece of gun 00 14 00

John Wells, 3 peces of guns 00 07 00

Thomas Barnard, one hatchet 00 02 00

Hezeciah Root, one blancket 00 09 00

Thomas Barnard, one blancket 00 03 08

Samuell Carter, one blancket 00 04 00

Jonathan Wells, one blancket 00 04 04

Ebene Farley, one cap 00 04 06

Jonathan Wells, one cap 00 06 00

WiUiam Belding, one cap 00 02 00

Jonathan Wells, one cap 00 03 00

Ebenezer Wright, one gun 01 15 00

Benja n Stebins, one pistill 00 10 00

John Graves, one hatchet 00 01 06

Joseph Smith, one gun 02 00 06

Ebene Boltwhood, one pistile 00 09 00

Samue 11 Dickeson, a hatchet 00 02 00

Natha 11 White, a hatchet 00 02 02

Thomas Howes, a hatchet 00 02 00

Sa 11 Church, a powderhorn 00 01 02

Nath 11 White, a blancket 00 05 08

Eben Seldin, a baganet 00 04 06

Sam 11 Field, a hatchet 00 02 00

Joseph Brooks, a gun 01 11 06

Zacrye Field, Ind n shoes .... - 00 00 10

Nat 11 Coleman, gun case 00 00 06

Primus Noyes, glas botle 00 00 06

Richard Billing, glas botle 00 08 04

John Wait, a hatchet 00 02 07

Zacrye Field, a squaline 00 01 07

Sam 11 Warner, a squaline 00 02 10

Nath 11 Colman, a squaline ' 00 01 06

Jona Wells, a squaline 00 01 02

Zacrye Field, a cap 00 02 10

Sam 11 Wright, a kniffe 00 01 00

Amount carried forward £15 14s. 08c?.

1870.] "ST. REGIS BELL." 317

Amount brought forward £15 lis. OSd.

Sam 11 Warner, a kniffe 00 01 03

Zacrye Field, a pair of snoshoes 00 05 03

Zacrye Field, a blancket 00 02 08

John Graves, a blancket . . . . " 00 03 00

Thomas Wells, a blancket 00 05 00

Sum totall £16 12s. lOd.

In following up this inquiry, it seemed important next to ascertain
what evidence of the truth or falsehood of the story could be found at
St. Regis. No long investigation was needed there, as it appears that
St. Regis did not exist in 1704, nor till some half century afterwards.
Rev. F. Marcoux, now resident priest at St. Regis, fixes it in 1759.
Rev. B. F. De Costa, in an article on the St. Regis bell, in the
"Galaxy" for January, 1870, fixes it in 1760. And Dr. F. B. Hough,
in his history of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, states that the
Indians from St. Louis settled there in 1760, and that their priest,
Anthony Gordon, then gave it the name of St. Regis.

That these dates are not precisely correct, may be inferred from a
letter which is to be found in the Massachusetts Archives, which
seems to be a translation from an original letter by one P. R. Billiard.
This letter, to which my attention was first called by Mr. Sheldon,
seems to fix the settlement of St. Regis as early as 1754.

To Monseigneur the Keeper of the Seals, Minister of the Marine.

Monseigneur, — The Iroquois Indians cf the Falls of St. Louis,
near Montreal, in Canada, are of the Iroquois Agniers (Mohawks),
who formerly left their country to come and settle along the river
St. Lawrence. Those of them that remained in the place of their
nativity presently came under the dominion of the English, being in
the neighborhood of Albany, while the others became the allies of the
French. As the people of the two villages are relations, we have seen
from time to time some of those that were settled round Albany re-
unite with their brethren of the Fall of St. Louis. Mons. Duquesne,
Governor- General of Canada, who perceived their inclinations, has
always treated them with great kindness, and has privately engaged
them to come and settle near him, knowing well, by experience in the
last war, that they were the only Indians to be feared on the side of
Fort St. Frederic and Lake Champlain.

A great number of them are determined in consequence of this,

318 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

and it is impossible the rest should stand out a great while. In the
mean time, the village of the Fall of St. Louis being very numerous,
is too much crowded ; and, moreover, the quality of the land not per-
mitting them to push out further there because of the marshy places
that are throughout, several families of the Fall of St. Louis, with a
great number of Iroquois Agniers, have desired to make a new settle-
ment in a place where the land was more fertile : in the first place, for
the convenience of life ; and, next, to be out of the way of drunken-
ness, to which the nearness of Mountroyal exposed them; and the
readiness of the French to sell them brandy, notwithstanding the
severe prohibitions of the Generals. Agreeably to this projection,
they have made choice of a place in the King's territories, situated
towards the south at the entrance of Lake St. Francis, half-way be-
tween the mission of the Falls of St. Louis and that of the Presenta-
tion. As this place appears to have all the properties for making a
solid and advantageous settlement for the Indians, I came here with
them ; and it is actually the mission which I have now the charge of,
under the title of St. Regis. But as the Agniers desire to have the
peaceable possession of said territory, I take the liberty to ask in their
name, —

1st, That they have granted to them the property of the territory
lying south, at the entrance of Lake St. Francis, between two rivers ;
one to the north-east, called Nigentsiagoa ; the other south-west,
called Nigentsiage ; being in front six leagues, comprising the two
rivers, together with the islands that lie towards the shore, for the said
Indians to hold so long as their village shall there subsist, upon con-
dition that if the mission is dissolved, the said lands shall revert to the
King.

2d, That the Jesuites missionaries be authorized under the title of
feoffees in trust to make the partition of said land among the Indians,
and amicably decide any controversies that may hereafter ensue re-
lating to this matter ; and to manifest that the said missionaries in
no wise seek their own interest in this, they desire it may be expressly
prohibited both now and hereafter to make any grant to the French,
as likewise to reserve for themselves, the missionaries, in said place any
land for ploughing; and then the distance of the French will take
away from the Indians the opportunity of copying their faults, and
ruining themselves with strong drink.

3d, That you would please to favor the good dispositions of the
governor-general by giving orders that they may have some assistance

1870.] " ST. REGIS BELL." 319

in this settlement, advantageous, at the same time, to the interest of
religion and the good of the colony.

P. R. Billiard, Jesuite,
Missionary to the Iroquois of the Mission of St. Regis.
St. Regis, Dec. 7, 1754.

Under date of " St. Regis, 1st April, 1870," Rev. F. Marcoux favors
me with information as follows : —

" I will further add the tradition on the testimony of the most
ancient inhabitants of this place, of whom some are almost contemporary
with the foundation of their village in 1760, . . . that from 1760
down to 1835, there have been but two bells in St. Regis ; one came
from the Catholic Churcfy of Fort Frontenac (now Kingston, Ontario),
and was given to them, at their request, by one of the first governors
of Quebec, after the conquest ; the other was purchased at Albany in
1802. These two bells, having been cracked, were carried to Troy,
N.Y., in 1835, and re-cast into a single bell. This is the tradition of
St. Regis."

It has more recently been stated, however, that the tradition, though
untrue as to St. Regis, is in fact true of a bell which is hanging in
St. Louis (now Caughnawaga), a place situated on the south side of
the St. Lawrence, and about nine miles above Montreal. In Hough's
"History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties," published in 1853,
the statement is made as follows : —

" While on a visit to Caughnawaga in October, 1852, the author
found in the village a direct and consistent tradition of the bell, which
is still used in their church ; and among the records in the hands of
the priest, a manuscript, in the French language, of which we shall
give a translation. The bell is a small one, and once possessed an
inscription, which has been effaced. The legend purports to have been
found some fifteen years since in an old English publication, and is
regarded by the priest of the mission, Rev. Joseph Marcoux, who has
for many years resided there, as, in the main points, reliable."

The Rev. Francis Marcoux, of St. Regis, has also expressed his
full belief in the existence and authenticity of the tradition as applied
to the bell of St. Louis.

I am fully assured that the negative evidence which I have pro-
duced is sufficient to show that the tradition, if ever it existed, could
have had no foundation in truth ; and I have as yet not discovered any

320 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [May,

precise and detailed evidence of the existence of this story before the
preparation of Hoyt's book, nearly fifty years ago.

The " legend," of which Dr. Hough gives a translation, is calculated
to cause doubt rather than belief. It does not profess to be founded
on tradition, but is said to have been taken, some fifteen years before
1853, from an old English book ; and Hoyt's book is the only one we
know of, from which its leading facts could have been taken. This
" legend " describes the St. Louis Indians, living nine miles from the
church bells of Montreal, as having never heard the sound of a bell,
and getting their first idea of its tones from the account of their
priest, and going out in procession to wreathe it with flowers, and
overcome with rapture in hearing it for the first time. It seems to be
simply a magazine story, in which a few well-known historical facts
are decked with the ornaments of fiction.

Strong circumstances of suspicion attach to the story as first pub-
lished by Hoyt. As published, it purported to come from Rev. Eleazer
"Williams, who, at the time of the publication, was a clergyman in good
standing, whose statements of fact would be likely to be received with
implicit belief. There were, without doubt, certain defects and improb-
abilities in the story as he told it. He spoke of obtaining Rouville's
journal, and another of the same kind, "from one of the principal
convents, where copies were required to be deposited on the return of
the commanders of parties." I am informed by gentlemen accustomed
to investigations among Canadian records,* that they know of no con-
vent where manuscripts of that description were required to be de-
posited, or can now be found. He says that De Rouville, in his
journal, describes Rev. John Williams as an " obstinate heretick." As
De Rouville himself is described by Abbe Ferland (following Charle-
voix) as a Huguenot, it is not probable that he would have used this
particular term of reproach.f

The additional fact that Williams fixed upon an impossible locale
for the resting-place of the bell, raises a strong suspicion that he
invented the whole story.

All that is known of Mr. Williams goes to confirm this suspicion.

* One of these gentlemen is Mr. J. M. Le Moine, of Quebec, who has given great
attention to the early history of the Dominion, and to whose intelligent kindness I am
much indebted.

t Since the above was written, however, I learn that a communication by M. Faucher
de St. Maurice has appeared in a Canadian paper, in which it is claimed that the De
Rouvilles were, in fact, Catholics.

1870.] "ST. REGIS BELL." 321

He could not resist any temptation to mystify the public. At one
time he came to a distinguished antiquary, now living in New York,
and told him that the priest's house in Caughnawaga had been left for
some time untenanted, had been blown down by a tempest, and that
he had then discovered, in a recess thus revealed in a chimney, a
number of Indian manuscripts, which he had taken away with him to
Green Bay in Michigan. Inquiry was immediately instituted, and it
was ascertained that the house had neither been left untenanted nor
been blown down, and that the whole story was fictitious. In 1853,
very general attention was excited by two articles published in " Put-
nam's Magazine," asserting his claims to be considered the son of
Louis XVI. of France. In one of those papers appeared his account
of an interview with the Prince de Joinville, in which the prince was
represented as making him large pecuniary offers if he would sign an
instrument releasing his claim to the throne of France. To this prop-
osition, according to his own statement, he returned an indignant
refusal. This statement, being brought to the notice of the prince,
was publicly contradicted by him as " a work of the imagination," and
" a speculation upon public credulity."

Nothing, then, seems to me more likely than that Williams invented
the alleged tradition of the Deerfield or St. Regis bell ; but, however
originated, it seems quite clear to me that the truth of the story is not
sustained by the evidence now known.

322 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

JUNE MEETING.

A stated monthly meeting was held on Thursday the 9th of
June, at 11 o'clock, a.m. ; the President, Hon. Robert 0. Win-
throp, in the chair.

The record of the last meeting was read.

The Librarian read his monthly list of donors to the Library.

The Corresponding Secretary read a letter of acceptance
from the Hon. William T. Davis, of Plymouth.

He also read a letter from Thomas B. Akins, Esq., of Hali-
fax, Nova Scotia, presenting a number of copies of the Jour-
nals of the Legislature of that Province, and offering to supply
any deficiency in the Society's set of those volumes.

The Corresponding Secretary also read a letter from Colonel
James Warren Sever, of Boston, presenting to the Society a
silver canteen and a pewter plate, which once belonged to Gover-
nor Edward Winslow, of Plymouth, and which bear his arms
and initials, and expressing the wish that a suitable inscription
should be engraved upon the canteen, and that it should ever
be preserved in the archives of the Society. Whereupon, the
following resolution was unanimously adopted : —

Resolved, That the thanks of this Society be presented to
Colonel James W. Sever, for the very interesting and highly ac-
ceptable relics of his ancestor, Governor Winslow, which have
just been communicated in his letter of May 19th ; and that
the request of the donor be complied with.

The President spoke of the death of Winthrop Sargent, Esq.,
a Corresponding Member, as follows : —

We have been called on of late to take notice of the deaths of Hon-
orary or of Resident Members of our Society, who had completed, and
more than completed, the common term of human existence, and in re-
gard to whom we could have no regrets that they had left any expecta-
tions of future usefulness unfulfilled. It is our sadder duty, to-day, to

1870.] ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT WINTHROP. 323

make mention of one who has been called away in the prime of life,
and who had given large promise of valuable service in the cause of
American History in years to come.

Mr. Winthrop Sargent was chosen a Corresponding Member of this
Society in 1856. He was born in Philadelphia on the 23d of Septem-
ber, 1825, and had thus reached his forty-fifth year. He was graduated
at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1845, and received the degree of
Bachelor of Laws, at the Dane Law School of Harvard University, in
1847. He exhibited an early interest in historical pursuits and re-
searches, and few persons of his age have made more creditable contri-
butions to the illustration of our Revolutionary and ante-revolutionary
period.

In 1855, he edited for the Pennsylvania Historical Society the
Journals of Officers engaged in Braddock's Expedition, from original
manuscripts in the British Museum, with an introductory Memoir of
the highest interest ; a volume which has been everywhere recognized
as containing the most accurate and thorough account of an expedition
in which Washington played so important a part, and in the preparation
for which Franklin, also, was a conspicuous actor.

In 1857, he published a beautifully printed and carefully annotated
collection of " The Loyalist Poetry of the Revolution."

In 1858, he edited for the Pennsylvania Historical Society a Journal
of the General Meeting of the Cincinnati Society, in 1784, from the
original manuscript of his grandfather, Major Winthrop Sargent, a
delegate from Massachusetts, who had served with distinction in various
capacities through the whole Revolutionary War, and who was after-
wards Governor of the Mississippi Territory.

In 1860, he published " The Loyal Verses of Joseph Stansbury and
Dr. Jonathan Odell, relating to the American Revolution."

In 1861, he published his most elaborate work, — '-The Life and
Career of Major John Andre," — with a dedication to President Sparks ;
a volume full of attractive and valuable matter, and displaying the fruit
of rich culture and rare accomplishments.

More than one of these productions, and especially the last, received
honorable mention at home and abroad, and won the strong commenda-
tions of some of our best historical writers.

Mr. Sargent had more recently performed a labor of love for our
own Society, in editing " The Letters of John Andrews, of Boston,
from 1772 to 1776," — which occupy nearly a hundred pages in our
printed Proceedings for 1864 and 1865. He had also been a frequent
contributor to the " North- American Review," and to others of our lead-

324 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

ing periodicals. But the events of the late war, and more especially
the death of a beloved father, the late George Washington Sargent, a
graduate of Harvard University in 1820, — who fell a victim, in 1864.
to the unprovoked violence of a lawless soldiery, — interrupted his
literary pursuits ; and he thenceforth devoted himself to the quiet prac-
tice of his profession as a lawyer, in the city of New York. His fail-
ing health and spirits compelled him, during the last year, to seek rest
and recreation in foreign lands ; but he sought them in vain, and died
of consumption in Paris on the 18th of May last.

He was a gentleman of the greatest delicacy and refinement, of ready
wit and large resources, and whose agreeable companionship had en-
deared him to many friends. He was married, in his earliest manhood,
to a daughter of his relative, Ignatius Sargent, Esq., of this city, but
had been a widower for many years past. An only child, a son, sur-
vives him.

It has not been our custom to pass formal resolutions on the death
of our Corresponding Members; but this brief notice will serve to
secure a place in our records for the name and career of one who so
well deserves to be remembered among those who have labored success-
fully in the illustration of our National History, and whose lives have
been cut short before they had fulfilled the rich promise of their spring.

At the conclusion of the President's remarks, Dr. Holmes
said that he rose to add a very few words. He held in his
hand a letter addressed to him by Mr. Sargent, before leaving
this country, accompanying a roll of the 4th Co. 8th Mass.
Regiment, dated in the year 1782, which Mr. Sargent sent,
thinking it probably contained the name of one of his corre-
spondent's relatives. Dr. Holmes offered this paper to the
Society, believing that it might have an intrinsic interest to
some of the members. It would be valued, he felt sure, as the
last token from a cherished associate, whose character had
been most tenderly and truly drawn by the President. Mr.
Sargent was a gentleman whom it was impossible to know
without esteeming and loving. His scholarship was so genu-
ine, his tastes were so pure, his manners were so engaging,
that he made friends wherever he went. As one of those
whose personal intercourse with him had been occasional
only, but always delightful, he had listened with deep gratifica-

1870.] MEMORIAL TO GEORGE PEABODY. 325

tion to the just and cordial tribute offered by our President to
his memory.

The President exhibited a photograph of the inscription on
the pavement of the Nave in Westminster Abbey, in Memory
of George Peabody, which had been kindly sent to him by
Dean Stanley. The inscription is in these words : —

HERE

WERE DEPOSITED,

ROM NOV. 12 TO DEC. 1

1869,
THE REMAINS OF

GEORGE PEABODY,

THEN REMOVED TO HIS NATIVE COUNTRY

AND BURIED AT DANVERS, NOW PEABODY

IN MASSACHUSETTS.

"I HAVE PRAYED MY HEAVENLY FATHER DAY BY DAY

THAT I MIGHT BE ENABLED BEFORE I DIED TO SHEW MY GRATITUI

"FOR THE BLESSINGS WHICH HE HAS BESTOWED UPON ME,

"BY DOING SOME GREAT GOOD TO MY FELLOW-MEN.'

LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE BEFORE MEN,
THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS
AND GLORIFY YOUR FATHER
WHICH IS IN HEAVEN."

The President said that this memorial had recalled to his
mind another monument in Westminster Abbey, — the only
other one in which Massachusetts seemed to have a peculiar
interest; namely, that to George, Lord Howe, who, under

326 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

Abercromby, in July, 1758, fell in an attack against Ticonde-
roga. For his virtues and military talents, Massachusetts, at
the charge of <£250, erected a monument to his memory.

The President spoke of the arrangements which were mak-
ing for publishing the Sewall Papers, which had recently come
into the possession of the Society. It was thought desirable
that a subscription for a certain number of copies should be
obtained beforehand, and the Standing Committee had prepared
a subscription paper for names. The co-operation of the mem-
bers was solicited.

The following committees were appointed : on the publica-
tion of the Sewall Papers, — Messrs Ellis, Torrey, Dexter, and
Whitmore ; on the " Hutchinson Papers," so called, claimed
by the State, — Messrs Ellis, Parker, Washburn, Clifford, G. T.
Bigelow, Thomas, and Ellis Ames ; on the Society's Building,
— the President, the Recording and Corresponding Secreta-
ries, the Librarian, the Treasurer, Messrs. W. G. Brooks,
Thayer, Mason, E. B. Bigelow, Lyman, and Appleton.

The President announced Part V. of the " Proceedings " as
upon the table.

The President spoke of the return, and of their presence at
the meeting this day, of Mr. Adams and Dr. Jacob Bigelow,
who had each been on a tour to the West, — the one to Omaha,
the other to San Francisco ; and they were invited to report to
the Society any thing which might occur to them as of interest.

Dr. Bigelow responded, and gave a very graphic account of
his visit to San Francisco, over the Pacific Railway.

Mr. Adams said he had nothing to report from his western
tour, but he would read a letter which he had brought to the
meeting, from Benjamin Franklin, adressed to Edmund Quincy,
of Braintree.

London Dec HO, 1761.
Sir, — I should sooner have answer'd your obliging Letter of Jan?
9, but that I hoped from time to time I might be able to obtain some
satisfactory Answers to your Queries. As yet I have done little, that

1870.] LETTER OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 327

kind of Information being look'd upon as a Part of the Mysteries of
Trade, which the Possessors are very shy of communicating. But I
think I am now in a Train of obtaining more, of which I hope soon to
give you a good Account. In the mean time I may inform you that
great Quantities of Wine are made both here and at Bristol from
Raisins, not by private Families only for their particular use, but in the
great Way by large Dealers, for the Country Consumption. As New
England trades to Spaine with their Fish, it would I imagine be easy
for you to furnish yourself at the best hand with Plenty of Raisins, &
from them produce a genuine Wine of real Worth that might be sold
with you for good Profit. Being lately at a Friend's House where I
drank some old Raisin Wine that I found to be very good, I requested
the — [Some portion of the- letter torn off.] . . . sound and good. It is
thought here, that by far the greatest Part of the Wine drank in Eng-
land, is made in England. Fine Cyder or Perry is said to be the
Basis, Sloes afford Roughness. Elder Berries Colour. And Brandy
a little more Strength. But of this I have no certain Account. The
Porter now so universally drank here, is I am assured, fined down with
Isinglass or Fish Glue, for which 60,000£ p r Annum is paid to Russia.
Of late it has been discovered that this Fish glue is nothing more than
the Souns of Cod or other Fish extended & dry'd in the Sun, with-
out any other Preparation. So you may make what Quantity you
please of it, and cheap, Fish being with you so plenty. I heartily wish
you Success in your Attempts "to make Wine from American Grapes.
None has yet been imported here for the Premium. With great
Esteem, I am, Sir,

Your most obedient

humble Servant

B. Franklin.

P.S. The Negotiations
for a Peace, in which Canada

was to be forever ceded to England, are at present off.
But whenever they are resum'd, I am persuaded that will be [torn].

N.B. One Ez! Hatch, near Greenwood's mastyard, tells me that the
Cod Souns or other may be Sav'd by stringing up & drying, that
under this circumstance they will not disolve in any liquor hot nor
cold; but that taken & wrapped up in clean linnen cloath or other
cloath, & covered up in embers so as to wast them, they will then
disolve, & that they will answer y e end of Glue ; but not so well of cod

328 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

as the souns of hake, w c . h is catch'd in or near y e fall ; those many joyn-
ers at distant places use as Glew for their Cabinet work : roasted first
in order to disolve as Glue.

[Addressed]

To
M r Edmund Qutncy,

at Braintree or
Free. Boston.

B. Franklin.

After reading the letter, Mr. Adams presented it to the
Society.

A conversation occurring on the subject of the " Cardiff
Giant," so called, excavated last year in the village of Cardiff,
Onondaga County, N.Y., and recently exhibited in this city,
the following passage was read from Clark's History of
" Onondaga, or Reminiscences of Earlier and Later Times,' '
&c, 1849 (from the chapter headed Traditions of the Onon-
dagas) : " The Quis-quis, or great hog, was another monster
which gave the Onondagas great trouble, as did also the great
bear, the horned water-serpent, the stone giants, and many
other equally fabulous inventions, bordering so closely upon
the truly marvellous, that the truth would suffer wrongfully
if related in full ; but nevertheless are found among the wild
and unseemly traditions of the race." (Vol. I., p. 43.)

The Librarian, Dr. Green, called the attention of the Society
to a letter which had been extensively printed in the news-
papers, particularly at the South and West. It was signed
" Cotton Mather," and purported to give the details of " a
scheme to bagge Penne," on the part of the colony of Massa-
chusetts. In an accompanying statement, it is said that the
letter was found by " Mr. Judkins, the Librarian of the Massa-
chusetts Historical Society, in overhauling a chest of old
papers deposited in the archives of that body by the late Rob-
ert Greenleaf, of Maiden." For the sake of historical truth, it
is desirable to give an official contradiction to the story, and

1870.] AN EARLY PAPER OF DANIEL WEBSTER. 329

to pronounce it a miserable forgery. The name of Mr. Jud-
kins is entirely unknown at this library ; no such chest of old
papers, as is alleged to have been deposited in the archives of
the Society, has ever been received ; and no such person, as
the one stated to have made the deposit, is known to the
members. The letter first appeared in the Easton, Penn.,
" Argus," of April 28, and is dated " September ye loth
1682." At this time, Cotton Mather was only nineteen years
old, which fact alone would be presumptive evidence that he
was not connected with any such piratical scheme. The story
was fabricated by some one with the intention of deceiving the
public, either for the purpose of putting its credulity to the
test, or for creating a prejudice against the early founders of
New England.

A copy of an early manuscript of Daniel Webster, on the
" Acquisition of the Floridas," was presented by Mr. T. R.
Marvin, the original paper to be returned after the Society
shall have made such use of it as it might wish. The original
had been given to Mr. Marvin by Mr. Webster himself. It
was probably written as a college exercise while Mr. Webster
was less than eighteen years of age, and twenty-one years
before the acquisition of Florida was actually accomplished.

ACQUISITION OP THE FLORIDAS.

Question. Would it be advantageous to the United States to extend
their territories ?

It might be supposed that a Republic, whose territorial jurisdiction
encircles a more extensive portion of the earth's surface than falls to
the share of almost any sovereignty in Europe, would never exert her
energies for her dominion. It is true, on general maxims, that our
country is sufficiently large for a Republican government ; but if, by an
inconsiderable extension of our limits, we can avail ourselves of great
natural advantages, otherwise unattainable, does not sound policy dictate
the measure ? We reduce the question to a single point : would not
the acquisition of the Floridas be advantageous to the United States ?
Here let it be remembered, that that part of the territory of our gov-

330 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [June,

eminent, which lies north of Florida, and west of the Alleghany Moun-
tains, including the north-western territory, Tennessee, Kentucky, and
a part of Georgia, is, by far, the most fertile part of the Union. No-
where does the soil produce in such exuberance; nowhere is the
climate so mild and agreeable. The agricultural productions of this
quarter, must then, in a few years, become immense, far exceeding
those of all the Atlantic States. The next inquiry is, how shall this
superabundance be disposed of? How shall the lumber, wheat, and
cotton of this country be conveyed to a West India or European
market ? The only practicable method of transportation is down the
Mississippi and the other rivers that run into the Mexican Gulf; and we
have here to reflect, that those rivers all run through a country owned
by the king of Spain, — a monarch, capricious as a child, and versatile
as the wind ; and who has it in his power, whenever interest, ambition,
or the whims of his fancy dictate, to do us incalculable injuries by pro-
hibiting our western brethren from prosecuting commerce through his
dominions. Suppose the Spanish sovereign should, this day, give
orders to the fortress of New Orleans to suffer no American vessel to
pass up or down the river : this would be an affliction not to be borne
by those citizens who live along the banks of the Mississippi ; but what
steps could our government take in the affair ? Must they sit still and
fold their hands, while such an intolerable embargo presses our com-
merce? This would be an ill expedient. We might as well give
Spain our whole western territory, as suffer her to control the com
merce of it. The only way we could turn ourselves, in this case, would
be to declare war against Spain, and vindicate our claims to free navi-
gation by force of arms. Here, then, we are under necessity of extend-
ing our territories by possessing ourselves of all the country adjacent
those rivers, necessary for our commerce, or of giving up the idea of
ever seeing Western America a flourishing country. Therefore, since
we are liable, every day, to be reduced to the necessity of seizing on
Florida, in a hostile manner, or of surrendering the rights of com-
merce, it is respectfully submitted, whether it would not be proper for
our government to enter into some convention with the king of Spain,
by which the Floridas should be ceded to the United States.

* D. Webster.

Dec. 25, 1800.

The President communicated from our Corresponding Mem-
ber, J. Francis Fisher, Esq., of Philadelphia, some verses
addressed to the inhabitants of Boston at the time of " the

1870.] LINES TO THE BESIEGED INHABITANTS OF BOSTON. 331

siege." Mr. Fisher says, " I do not know the author, but pre-
sume they were written in Philadelphia, or on the eastern
shore of Maryland. It is possible also they may have been
printed somewhere ; but I suppose this would be more easily
found out in Boston than here."

To the Inhabitants of Boston, when confined therein by General Gage.

Gentlemen, — The following Lines convey to you the Ideas of a youthfull
fancy, concerning your (at present) alarming situation ; they pretend to no merit ;
as an artificial and elaborate Composition they flow from Nature ; and if they
have slid into an easy harmony, it was accidental ; or perhaps altogether owing
to your Pathetic Misfortunes.

Those readers only, who can be equally affected with yours, or a similar situa-
tion, have a right to judge of the propriety of their Numbers, Diction, and Senti-
ment.

"While public scenes your anxious thoughts employ,

That rob your ardent breasts of heart-felt joy;

While you replace fair justice on her Throne,

And for a Nation's freedom lose your own,

Firm while you stand the Champion of the Laws

And vindicate in Bonds the gen'ral Cause :

Bold behind Virtue's adamantine Shield,

While reason's arms defensively you wield,

And nobly militant for common right,

Stem the land-torrent of oppressive might,

Say, shall th' officious muse invade your time,

And press the soft impertinence of Rhime ?

Say, shall she find, friends, a vacant Hour,

To steal attention from injurious pow'r :

Thro' troops, and guards, to cast her artless Lay,

Or thro' the mighty Fleet, to burst her way 1

In gratulation, and condolement say,

Shall she her honorary tribute pay !

" Yes, I will give a pleasing fancy scope,

" And cheer your patriot hearts, with patriot hope ;

" For spite of new made Laws, and new made kings,

" The freeborn Muse with lib'ral spirit sings.

Friends, I view you glowing as I write,
And my warm mind presents thee to my sight :
From my full breast congenial Virtues break,
Flash'd thro' mine Eyes, and burning on my Cheek,
The bright contagion mutual ardor claims,
And all the patriot's fire, the bard inflames.

Let no mean vengeance prompt you to pursue,
Rebell' ous councils, with a selfish few.

332 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [juke

By judgement right, by principle be brave ;

And not to others, nor yourselves, enslave.

By honour urg'd, by spleen opposs'd, proceed,

And still assert your Theory by Deed ;

America's advancement be your hope,

And national felicity your scope.

Not dreading death, if death alone can save,

Nor fond of life if life will but enslave.

Ah ! let no threats, no penal ills controul,

The noble purpose of your freeborn soul ;

Prerogative, with natal rights, defend,

To George, be true, and to his realms a friend.

Let not branch'd pow'r your purposes confound,

To each taxation shew the legal bound.

Let legislature shine with strength and grace,

Eixt like Paul's temple, on a solid Base.

Is there on Earth a sight to charm the Gods,
And claim attention from supreme abodes ;
'Tis when the patriot props a falling State,
And patient, struggles against adverse fate.
Each honest heart then shares his Heroic Woes,
Each soul, indignant of his sufferings glows.
Hardships for men just Providence design'd
As salutary med'cine for the mind ;
Makes vanquished persecution virtues test,
And danger prove the wisest and the best,
Bids round these distend her guardian Wing,
'Gainst vice oppressive, tho' impotent of sting;
Adequate mansions and rewards assigns,
And own no worth, till exercised it shines.

Do ye, like men, altho' by fleets confined,
Ev'n then enjoy your Liberty of mind,
Prepar'd to look, piteous of meaness, down,
On little tyrants while they leer or frown,
Who dread a Nation, in its dawning ray,
As evil spirits the approach of Day.
At honour's wound, at Glory's groan elated,
Who know of merit, just enough to hate it.
O ! think crush'd virtue more elastic grows,
And rising 'gainst their weight, o'erturns her foes:
Triumphant from Disgrace she gathers fame,
And loads the Agressors with retorted shame ;
Think how the brave, and good, with wisdomk Eyes,
View vill'ans honour's and their threats despise ;
Lords of themselves in Native greatness reign,
And unprecarious sov'reignty maintain.

1870.] JULY MEETING.

JULY MEETING.

A stated monthly meeting was held on Thursday, July 14th,
at 11 o'clock, a.m., the President in the chair.

The record of the last meeting was read by the Recording
Secretary.

The Librarian read his list of donors for the month.

The President communicated the number for May, 1870, of
the " Annales des Voyages," containing a review of Parkman's
" Discovery of the Great West," by Count Circourt, the donor.

Mr. F. E. Parker was added to the committee on the " Hutch-
inson Papers," in place of Judge Thomas, who, at his own
request, was excused from serving.

Part YI. of " Proceedings," embracing the meetings of
April and May, 1870, was announced as on the table.

Mr. Ellis Ames exhibited the original deed of the town of
Attleboro'.

A small pewter medal was presented by Dr. Palfrey ; the
same which hung round his neck when a youth, at the age of
five, at the time of Washington's death, in 1799. On the
obverse of the medal are the words, —

" He is in glory, the world in tears."

On the reverse, —

B. F. 11. 1732, G. A. Arm. '75. R. 83. P. U. S. A. '89 + R. '96. G. Arm. U. S. '98.
Ob. D. 14. 1799.

Dr. Green stated that this medal, which was well known to
coin-collectors, was designed by Dudley Atkins Tyng, of New-
buryport, who was one of the corporators of this Society, and
for nearly forty years a Resident Member.

Mr. W. G. Brooks exhibited specimens of the coverings
taken from the walls of the " Royal House " in Medford. These
hangings were of leather, painted with quaint figures of birds,

334 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [July,

animals, and other objects. They are said to have been im-
ported from China. The leather was fastened to the walls by
small nails.

Mr. Amory remarked that at that period it was common to
fasten the coverings of the walls of houses by nails, as in the
old " Collins House " at Danvers.

Mr. Brooks further stated that the "Royal House," so
called, was built by Lieutenant Governor Usher, of whom it
was purchased by Colonel Isaac Royal, and enlarged in 1738.
The estate then comprised 504 acres, part of which were within
the limits of Charlestown. Colonel Royal died in 1739. In a
MS. journal in Mr. Brooks' possession, is this entry : " June
17, 1739. Sermon on account of Colonel Isaac Royal's death,
by the desire of the remaining family, which desired Mr. Turell
to preach a sermon suitable to their condition. The Colonel
died Thursday, June 9, at 7 o'clock in the forenoon, and was
buried at Medford on Saturday, June 16, and was carried the
same night to Dorchester to his marble tomb." The property
descended to a son of the same name, who took his title of
Colonel. He made it his place of residence until 1776. Prov-
ing to be a Tory, and becoming an absentee, the property
was confiscated. He went to England, and died there in
1781. The property was held by the State until 1805,
and in 1810 it was purchased by Mr. Tidd, a distiller of Bos-
ton, who lived upon it ; and it has now been purchased of his
heirs by a Boston gentleman, to be taken down.

Colonel Aspinwall said it was occupied as a female semi-
nary, probably while in the possession of the State.

The President called attention to the subscription papers on
the table for the " Sewall Diary," and for the volume of " Har-
vard Graduates," by our associate, Mr. Sibley, the Librarian
of Harvard College.

1870.] AUGUST MEETING. 335

AUGUST MEETING.

A stated meeting was held on Thursday, 11th instant, at 11
o'clock, a.m. ; the President, the Hon. R. C. Winthrop, in the
chair.

The record of the preceding meeting was read.

The Librarian read his usual list of donors.

The President read the following paper, giving a resumS
of the discussion relating to the claim of the State to the
" Hutchinson Papers," so called ; which was referred to the
Committee on the publication of the Proceedings, —

You are all aware, Gentlemen, that the question between
this Society and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in
regard to what are known as " The Hutchinson Papers," has
been referred to a large Special Committee. The gentlemen
composing this Committee are abundantly able to deal wisely
and justly with the whole subject, and I do not desire to
influence their decision in any way. But there are one or two
points in the case upon whieh, as President of the Society, I
desire to make such explanations as seem to be called for by
statements contained in the Documents which have been
printed by the Legislature.

Let me say, at the outset, that I have thus far had little or
no part in the proceedings on this vexed question. When Dr.
Palfrey, as Secretary of the Commonwealth, addressed the
Society on the subject of these Papers, I was a member of
Congress, and absent from the State. Mr. Savage was then
President of the Society ; and though I had been a member for
many years, I was not often in the way of attending its meetings,
or of taking special note of its proceedings. And again, in
1868, when Governor Bullock addressed the Society on the
subject, it happened that I was in Europe, and the whole cor-
respondence had been concluded before my return home.

336 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Aug.

These circumstances will sufficiently account for my having
taken no part in the controversy which has so long been
pending.

I find, however, that in the Memorial of Mr. David Pulsifer,
which is printed in the Legislative Document, a note of mine
appears, dated 28 April, 1859, which seems to have given
occasion to some extraordinary inferences. That note was
written, as I find on reference to my diary, just as I was leav-
ing home to meet some literary engagements in Baltimore
and Richmond. I am not sure that I could have said more,
had I been less hurried in preparing it. But Mr. Pulsifer sets
forth in his Memorial, that the " effect " of the note " was to
deprive your memorialist of the use " of these Papers, " which
would have been of great benefit while printing the Acts of the
Commissioners of the United Colonies," &c. ; and the Hon.
Mr. Noyes, in his Report on the subject, in 1867, deriving his
misapprehension undoubtedly from Mr. Pulsifer's statement,
says that our Society " refuse an Officer of the Commonwealth,"
" when appointed to complete its early records, access to their
information" ; adding that these Papers, " in the custody of
the Historical Society, are closed to those who may desire
their perusal."

It requires but a glance at my note, to see how utterly
groundless such allegations are. That note, after stating that
our rules in regard to Manuscript volumes are peremptory and
unchangeable, so far certainly as any discretion of the Officers
of the Society may reach, went on to state explicitly that the
Society had granted leave for Mr. Pulsifer to obtain any thing
he might desire in the way prescribed by the rules, and to
refer him to the then Chairman of our Standing Committee
(Gov. Washburn), and to our Corresponding and Recording
Secretaries (Dr. Chandler Robbins and Mr. Deane), for more
particular information.

I know not whether application was made to either of those
gentlemen at the time ; but, if so, they must have informed

1870.]

him precisely how he could procure access to the Papers, and
copy whatever was necessary for the purposes of his appli-
cation.

I may say, however, that I had the best reason for knowing
that Mr. Pulsifer himself was not unfamiliar with these Papers,
and with our rules, as I had been previously indebted to him
for copying one of the " Hutchinson Papers " for myself. I
might have considered it, on this account, less important to
enter into details in my own note, even had I been more
at leisure. I may add, too, that I have no remembrance that
Mr. Pulsifer stated in his application that he was acting for
the Commonwealth. He has not taken the pains to print his
part of the correspondence, and I am not sure that his note
to me is preserved. But my impression is that he applied in
his individual capacity. At any rate, his note was laid before
the Society, and I replied immediately after their adjournment,
and agreeably to their instructions.

If, therefore, there was any failure on the part of Mr.
Pulsifer to obtain whatever there was in the " Hutchinson
Papers," for the benefit of the publication on which he was
engaged by the State, it was clearly the result of his own
unwillingness to comply with the rules which have been
established by our Society, for the security of the Papers
which have been intrusted to their keeping. Had the Society
adopted less stringent rules originally, and allowed their
autograph manuscripts to be taken out and used by all who
might desire to do so, it may be at least doubtful whether, by
this time, there would have been any " Hutchinson Papers "
left, to furnish the subject of this vexatious controversy.

The rules of our Society were framed and adopted by those
who understood the value of ancient manuscripts, and the
danger of submitting them to indiscriminate and unrestricted
use. And, although it may not be inexpedient to modify
those rules in some particulars, for the greater convenience
of historical students, we can never be justified in exposing

338 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Aug.

our treasures to any risk which we have the power to guard
against.

I am thus brought to a few general remarks upon the precise
question before us. Here are certain Papers which have been
in possession of this Society for a long time ; some of them
for half a century, and others of them for a much longer
period. Of the persons who were members of the Society at
the time when even the most recently received of these Papers
were presented to it, but one is among the living, — our vener-
able Ex-President, whose infirmities have long deprived us
of his co-operation and counsel. Every other member is of
later election than 1820. Only two were chosen before 1840.
We have succeeded to the custody of whatever books or papers
were transmitted to us, and we hold them in sacred trust.
We are bound, I think, to guard jealously whatever we have
received. We have no right to surrender, upon whatever
demand, any thing which has rightfully been committed to our
keeping. And after such a length of possession, in default
of any positive proof that such possession is wrongful, we owe
it to our predecessors, as well as to ourselves and to those
who shall succeed us, to challenge peremptorily any claim
which may be made upon our possessions.

It appears by our own records, — which afford almost
all the evidence there is on the subject, — that certain " let-
ters, found among the papers of Governor Hutchinson, and
communicated by Mr. Bradford," were referred to the Publish-
ing Committee of this Society, on the 28th of October, 1819 ;
and that on the 27th of January, 1820, some u additional
letters, found by Mr. Secretary Bradford among the papers of
Governor Hutchinson, and presented to the Society by per-
mission of the Governor and Council," were referred to the
same Committee.

The letter of Mr. Bradford is also found, which accompanied
these last letters, and in which he says, " I have obtained
leave of the Council to present them to the Society. They are
no part of the files of the Secretary's office."

1870.] THE " HUTCHINSON PAPERS." 339

Two more parcels were subsequently received from the
same source.

Now the Hon. Alden Bradford was a man of scrupulous
personal and official integrity. He was a man not less likely
to have taken pride in preserving the archives of the Com-
monwealth than any of his successors. He knew what these
Papers were ; where they came from ; and to whom they
belonged. His whole letter is to be taken together ; and he
says distinctly, and as if he foresaw that a question might
arise in future, " They are no part of the files of the Secretary's
office." How they had come into his hands he does not say ;
but feeling some doubt as to their disposition, he takes the ad-
vice of the Council, and says that he had obtained their leave
to present them to this Society.

No one can read these records and this letter without
acknowledging that, so far as this Society is concerned, there
is no shadow of indirection in the manner in which these
Papers came into our possession ; and that the whole re-
sponsibility for their coming to us at all must rest upon the
Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Council of that day.

It would seem, however, from a Document very recently
brought to light, that at least the silent assent of the Legisla-
ture itself was not wanting to our original possession of these
Papers. I refer to a Report of Secretary Bradford to the
Legislature, dated 17 April, 1821, and made in compliance
with a call from the House of Representatives for a statement
of " the condition of the public records and documents belong-
ing to the Commonwealth," in which the following passage
occurs : —

" Several files of papers saved from the riot at Gov. Hutchinson's
house : some of them of a private nature and some of them public docu-
ments collected by him probably as materials for his History of Massa-
chusetts and a volume of State Papers which he had published. These
not being considered as belonging to y e Government, or as any part of
the records of y e Commonwealth, or ancient colony or Province, some

340 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [AuG.

of them, valuable chiefly for their antiquity, were selected by the under-
signed, with the consent and approbation of the Supreme Executive,
and deposited in the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society,
a list of them being first made and kept in the Secretary's office."

Here again we find Secretary Bradford distinctly setting
forth, that the Papers which, according to our records and to
his own letter to our Secretary, he had " presented " to our
Society, were " not considered as belonging to the Govern-
ment, or as any part of the records of the Commonwealth, or
ancient Colony or Province," and that they had been deposited
in our library " with the consent and approbation of the
Supreme Executive."

In that Report the Legislature acquiesced, and thus gave
their virtual sanction to what had been done. Secretary Brad-
ford evidently so understood it, as he presented the last parcel
of these papers to our Society more than two years after his
Report was dated ; * and on this occasion we hear nothing of
any list being made or kept.

At any rate, in our possession these Papers remained, un-
claimed and unchallenged, for twenty-six years, and were dealt
with in the same way with all our other papers. With other
papers, they were classified and bound up ; and it remains
to be seen whether any one can tell at this hour the precise
pieces, in the various volumes labelled " Hutchinson Papers,"
which were thus presented to us by Mr. Bradford. The list
of them contained in his letter cannot be found on our own files,
nor can that referred to in his Report, as I understand, be found
on the files of the Commonwealth.

If, as has been suggested, this presentation was only intend-
ed as a temporary and technical deposit, liable to recall, the
list ought certainly to have been carefully kept by the depositor,
with some receipt, or acknowledgment, or promise to restore
on demand, from our Society. No such thing, however, is
forthcoming ; nor is there the slightest reason for thinking

* This last presentation was on the 26th of August, 1823.

1870.] THE " HUTCHINSON PAPERS." 341

that any such receipt or promise was ever exacted or contem-
plated. The words " deposited " and " presented " seem to
have been employed indifferently by Mr. Bradford in regard to
the gift ; unless, perhaps, he may have hesitated to repeat the
word " presented " in relation to Papers, which he so distinctly
says were " not considered as belonging to the Government."
There is certainly nothing to indicate or imply that the idea
of a temporary and technical deposit was in the mind of Mr.
Secretary Bradford, or of the Governor and Council, or of the
Legislature to whom the Report was made, or of this Society,
when the Papers were presented to them.

No claim or suggestion of this sort, indeed, was ever made
until January, 1846, when Dr. Palfrey, then Secretary of the
Commonwealth, first addressed the Society on the subject. A
second communication from him was received in January,
1847 ; and a third, in July, of the same year.

These various communications of Dr. Palfrey seem never
to have been directly answered ; but they were the subject of
an elaborate Report to the Society, signed by five of our mem-
bers (three of them now dead), whose names alone are a
sufficient guaranty of the - ability and scrupulous integrity
which they brought to the investigation of the case.

Not to mention the living,* it is enough to say that the late
Hon. Francis C. Gray, the late Hon. Nathan Appleton, and
the late Rev. Dr. Alexander Young, would have been trusted
by the whole community in which they lived, as umpires,
without reserve or recourse, on any question which had been
referred to them.

Their conclusion was that " the State had not a shadow of
a claim to the whole three volumes " ; and that, " considering
the long lapse of time, the death of the agent (Mr. Bradford)
employed in the transaction, and the other circumstances of
the case, it was the duty of the Society to set up the statute

* The Rev. Geo. W. Blagden, D.D., and the Hon. P. W. Chandler, were the other
members.

342 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Aug.

of limitations against any claim to them from any quarter."
" This, indeed," they said in conclusion, " is one of those
cases for which that beneficent statute was mainly intended to
provide, and which eminently prove its equity and wisdom."

Nathan Appleton and Francis C. Gray were the last men
in the land who would have set up the statute of limitations
as a bar to a claim which they regarded as reasonable, or
founded in justice or equity.

They are men, let me add, whose deliberate judgment this
Society would be, and should be, slow to set aside. Certainly,
in any review of their judgment, even if we finally saw grounds
for acting in opposition to it, we should feel bound to vindicate
their memories from any imputation of unfairness. I cannot
forget the deep sense of the injustice of this claim which was
expressed to me personally by one of them (Mr. Gray), while
he was on a lingering death-bed, and how earnestly he en-
joined upon me that it should be steadfastly resisted.

After this Report, we hear nothing more for another period
of nearly twenty years. And now, for the first time, the
legislative authority is invoked against us. In 1867, the pre-
liminary action was taken by the Legislature, which, after
repeated hearings before Committees, at which our case was
ably set forth by the Rev. Dr. Ellis, Governor Washburn, and
Professor Parker, has at last resulted in a peremptory Order,
that the Attorney-General of Massachusetts should proceed,
by suit in law or in equity, to recover the books and papers
in our possession belonging to the Commonwealth.

It will be borne in mind that no legislative demand has ever
before been made upon this Society. Dr. Palfrey's letters
in 1846 and 1847, though dated from the Secretary's office,
and dictated, undoubtedly, by a sense of official duty, were on
his own sole responsibility. He had not even the authority
of the Council for demanding the Papers, as his predecessor
had for presenting them.

The letter of Governor Bullock, in 1868, was only one

1870.]

343

asking for information ; and, after receiving the reply of our
Committee, he merely recommended to the Legislature to refer
the subject to a Committee of Inquiry, with power to send for
persons and papers.

The first formal demand of the Legislature has thus come
in the shape of an Order to the Attorney-General to prosecute
our Society ; although our Society, through their Committee,
had already so far waived their absolute claim, as to offer to
unite with the Commonwealth in submitting the case to im-
partial arbitration, and although such a reference had been
recommended and provided for in the Report of " the Joint
Special Judiciary Committee " to whom the whole matter was
last referred.

In view of the fact that this Society is the oldest historical
society in our land ; that it has devoted itself for three-
quarters of a century to collecting and publishing whatever
could illustrate the history of the Commonwealth, and has
already published more than forty volumes of invaluable
material for this purpose ; and that no individual member
of the Society has any interest to retain these Papers from
the possession of the Commonwealth, except so far as it is our
duty to guard sacredly what we have rightfully received, — such
a step seems as little in keeping with the character of the
Commonwealth, as it is with the character of our Society.

I venture to hope, however, that we shall maintain our
equanimity, and even our magnanimity, in spite of such provo-
cations ; and that, while we make ready to defend our rights
and our good name in any action which may be commenced
against us, we may yet hold ourselves open to accept any
overtures of arrangement or arbitration, if any should be
made, even though the offers of our Committee to that effect
were disregarded.

It will be time enough, however, for the Society to decide
that question when such a proposition shall be made to us.

Meantime, we may console ourselves with the reflection, that

344 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Aug.

there is really but little intrinsic importance in the question
whether the three bound volumes, which have been labelled
" Hutchinson Papers," or any part of them, shall remain in
our possession, as they have done for half a century past, or
whether they shall be surrendered to the custody of the State.
The most interesting of them have already been printed, and
the rest of them have been copied. In what hands the auto-
graph originals shall remain, is certainly not a matter of very
great moment.

But we owe it to ourselves, and to those who have gone
before us, to vindicate the character of our Society from unjust
imputations, and to create no precedent by which we may be
stripped of the historical treasures which have been committed
to our care by those no longer living to bear testimony to the
rightfulness of our possession.

The President also read a letter, printed below, from Daniel
Clark, Secretary of the Assistants of the Colony of Connecti-
cut, to John Winthrop, Jr., in London, on the receipt of the
Connecticut Charter.

Windsor, No^ 17. 1662.

Right Wor^ l — The sedulous and indefatigable paines and travailes
that yo r wor? haue spent in y e occasions of this poor Colony we now
can certeinly affirme haue bene seconded w th memorable issues and
effects, through the concurrence of diuine providence and benediction
to y e great reioyceing of the hearts of yo r friends and servants the
members of this Corporation. And we can doe noe less then with all
readines of spirit returne o r acknowledgment thereof w th all respectiue
gratulations to yo r Wor?. We haue receaued the Chart 1- , the duplicate
and the old Coppy of y e former Charter, well approued and liked by all.
And o v great care hath bene to effect y e payment according to yo r order
w ch we doubt not wilbe issued to satisfaction by o r time ; the Riu r
haueing sent away their proportion and all parts willing and ready to
pforme, though troublesom at this season of the yeare to thrash. Our
earnest expectation and longing desire is to see yo r presence amongst
vs and to enioy yo r helpfulnes in the place that Gods providence hath
called Yo r Wor? vnto in point of Gouerm* being chosen Gouerno 1 for
this Yeare to Conecticut Col : or Corporat :

1870.] A MODERN CENTENARIAN. 345

Hono rd M" Winthrop w tb y e rest of yo r family are in health now
resideing at Hartford. M r Stone hath lately accompained M" Winthrop
to N : London to y e Ship y* is to receaue the Corne, and both returned
back well and in p r sent health w th y e rest of yo r freinds here. We hope
there wilbe a Loving concurrence and Accomodation twixt o r selues
and N: Hauen. Long Island freely and chearfully submit. West-
chest 1- , Greenwich, Stanford, submit and y e rest we doubt not. The
Assistants w*h an vnanimous consent p r sent their Cordiall respects to
yo r Wor^ earnestly beseeching yo r speedy returne, still desireing to be
mindfull of yo r Self and yo r affaires in o r prayers.

Subscribeing : Yo r freinds & Servants The Assistants of Con : Collo :
by their order Subscribed.

p Daniel Clark Sec r

Indorsed, —

Letter from Secretary Clarke in the name of the court, to 1 st Gov r -
Winthrop of CoDnecticutt on Keceiving their Charter.

Nov r 27*1662.

SEPTEMBER MEETING.

A stated meeting of the Society was held on Thursday,
September 8th, at 11 o'clock", a.m. ; the President, Mr. Win-
throp, in the chair.

The record of the preceding meeting was read.

The Librarian read his list of donors for the past month.

Hon. Charles J. Hoadly, of Hartford, Librarian of the State
of Connecticut, was elected a Corresponding Member.

Mr. Paige read the following paper : —

The reference, at a recent meeting, to the doubts sometimes
expressed, whether any person, in modern times, has attained
the full age of a hundred years, induces me to record one
well-authenticated example.

Mrs. Mercy Paige, daughter of James and Mercy Aiken,
and widow of Deacon William Paige, was born in Brookfleld,
3 January, 1T21 ; and died in Hardwick, 19 February, 1823,
aged one hundred and two years, one month, and five days,

346 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

allowing the eleven days difference in style. I was present at
the celebration of the centennial anniversary of her birth ;
I resided near her for the first twenty years of my life : I was
personally acquainted with her, with several of her children,
and with many aged people who had long been her associates ;
and I never heard a doubt mentioned concerning her age or
parentage. But, in order to attain more absolute certainty, I
examined the Town Records of Brookfield, where her birth is
recorded thus : " Marcy Ekins, daughter of James and Marcy,
born January y e 3* 17|f " By the Church Records of Hard-
wick, it appears that William Paige and Mercy Aiken s were
married 11 January, 174|. The death is recorded on both
the Town and the Church Records of Hardwick.

It may be suggested that the child born 3 January, 1721,
died young ; and that a second child of the same name, born
six or eight years afterwards, would have been marriageable
in 1744. To this suggestion there are two sufficient answers.
(1) Her father, James Aiken, was one of the pioneers, and
commenced cultivating a farm in Hardwick (then called
Lambstown) in 1733, while the place was a wilderness.
His family remained at Brookfield a few months. Meantime
this daughter several times rode on horseback, and alone, ten
miles through the pathless forests, guided by marked trees, to
convey a weekly supply of provisions to her father. Such was
her own statement, and such the undisputed tradition. We
can scarcely suppose that such a task was performed by a girl
much less than twelve years old. (2) She was admitted
as a member of the Church in Hardwick, 6 December, 1736,
before she was sixteen years old. To suppose her half a dozen
years younger would be inconsistent with the usual practice
of Churches at that period. It cannot be supposed that this
record has reference to her mother, who bore the same name ;
for it is duly recorded that " Mercy, wife of James Aikens,"
was admitted 29 May, 1737, on recommendation of the Church
of which she was formerly a member.

1870.] LETTER FROM REY. R. C. WATERSTON. 347

If any reliance can be placed on records, in connection and
in agreement with common tradition, there can be no reason-
able doubt that this venerable lady lived more than two years
beyond a full century, and was a member of the Church in full
communion more than eighty-six years.

Professor Lowell referred to the well-known cases of four
centenarians, graduates of Harvard College, noticed in the
Proceedings for August, 1865, pp. 439, 440.

Mr. Deane read the communication which follows, from our
associate, Mr. Waterston, dated at San Francisco, California :

San Francisco, California, August 29th, 1870.

Charles Deane, Esq.,

Secretary of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Dear Sir, — Just before leaving home, I received from you a copy
of the vote of the Historical Society requesting me to represent that
body on any appropriate occasion which might occur on the Pacific
Coast.* If I have not duly acknowledged this favor, permit me now
to do so.

Coming as I did, in company with the Board of Trade, by the first
railroad train passing directly across the continent from the Atlantic
to the Pacific ; climbing the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada ;
leaving in our swift passage prairies and plains and the Great Desert
behind us ; and at length descending the Pacific Slope, and stepping
out of the identical cars we had entered in Boston in the very heart
of the city of San Francisco, — this might in itself be considered an
historical event. The fact also that we were officially received by the
governors of nearly all the Western States through which we passed,
and that every mark of respect was extended, both on our way and
when we arrived in California, imparted a certain dignity to the event,
serving to strengthen those ties of sympathy and good-will which
should ever exist between the most distant portions of our common
country.

The aspects of Nature on this side of the Rocky Mountains are often

* See "Proceedings" for May last, p. 309. — Eds.

348 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

upon a grand and impressive scale. Now, we behold scenes of wild
magnificence ; and now, of rich fertility.

Moreover, the methods of Nature are here often strange and start-
ling. The seasons, the soil, the climate, the vegetation, are different
from what is to be found elsewhere.

The extraordinary abundance of mineral wealth is another well-
known characteristic ; at times delusive, but often wonderfully prolific,
having actually yielded over eight hundred millions of dollars in gold
within a few years.

But the most astonishing fact of all is the unexampled growth of
this community.

Twenty-five years ago, California was scarcely inhabited, and almost
unexplored. Now, it is widely cultivated, and sprinkled thick with
thriving villages and populous cities. San Francisco itself, which
only twenty years ago was nothing but a sand-bank, has now a popu-
lation of over one hundred and fifty thousand, with stately and elegant
churches, colleges, school-edifices, splendid hotels, spacious haUs, and
structures in wood, brick, and stone, of every description. More than
forty ocean-steamers regularly enter and depart from its superb harbor,
upon whose waters thousands of sailing vessels constantly float, uniting
this city with every port on the globe.

The foreign imports, in 1868, were over fifteen millions of dollars;
while the merchandise exports, the same year, were twenty-three
millions, more than seventeen millions of which were of domestic
products.

The rapidity of growth has been amazing ; but, with so limited an
experience, it has little of what is generally understood to be History.
Many of the citizens carry its whole career in their personal memory.
I have heard, from one and another, reminiscences embracing the
time when men first landed here, and had no other place of abode than
tents ; while some had not even such shelter. Yes, men now in the
prime of life will speak of this as their own experience. Still, young
as the country is, there are here and there threads of tradition, reaching
back to an earlier time.

Among the oldest monuments connecting this region with a past
period are the " Old Missions." Several of the churches and chapels
yet stand, which were erected a hundred years ago by the Missionary
pioneers, Spanish and Mexican, who labored among the Indian tribes
of California. These are quaint buildings, built rudely of clay and stone,
— adorned with ancient paintings brought doubtless in many instances

1870.]

LETTER FROM REV. R. C. WATERSTON. 349

from Spain, with images of apostles and saints, — looking now much
as they did when they awakened the wonder of the Indian tribes.
The first important efforts towards civilization on this shore were
made by the Jesuits, after which the Missions were transferred to the
Order of St. Francis. The Jesuits labored in Lower California, and
never in Upper California. The former were banished from power by
the Spanish government in 1767. After this, Father Junipero, of the
Franciscan Order, carried the work into Upper California. The
lands were held by grant of the Spanish government. The Missions
were subordinate to the civil authority ; still, for all practical purposes,
their control was nearly supreme. Their domain extended from San
Diego to San Francisco, with immense territory, and large herds and
flocks. The Missions were established at intervals of twenty and thirty
miles, the boundary of one uniting with that of another, so that the
whole coast was under their jurisdiction. The natives were compelled
to work in their service. In connection with the Missions were
forts called " Presidios," which served for their protection ; and
the towns (such as they were), called " Pueblos." Outside the
Missions the government was purely military. Thousands of Indians
were domesticated around these Missions, the Fathers living in patri-
archal state, with vast numbers of horses, cattle, and sheep, — some
of the Missions possessing from sixty to seventy thousand head of
cattle.

The overthrow of the Spanish dominion in Mexico brought an end
to the power and prosperity of these Missions. Not one was founded
after that event. In 1826 a law was passed, depriving the Fathers
of their lands, and also of the labor of the Indians ; from which time
their position and influence have rapidly dwindled away.

The first Mission I visited was that of San Francisco, — the Mission
u Dolores." The edifice still stands, which was erected in 1776, seven
years after the Bay of Francisco had received its name. It stands —
a simple structure — on the side of a hill, which shelters it from the
ocean winds. The three old bells, which have been there from
the beginning, still hang in the belfries, and are rung at stated times.
Various old volumes of Spanish manuscripts, covered with sheepskin
and having buckskin clasps, yet remain there ; together with some
six hundred volumes in Spanish print. There are also some very
ancient paintings and carvings, brought from abroad, which recall
strangely a former day. A school is taught here, and religious ser-
vices are regularly held. Some of the old " adobe " buildings (as the

350 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

sun-burnt clay used for building these structures is called) still stand.
These were inhabited by the Indians. Near by is the old graveyard ; I
read the various inscriptions, but I saw none worthy of special note.

I have visited also the old Missions of San Jose and Santa Clara,
about fifty-five miles from San Francisco. These two are united by
a shady avenue of willows and poplars, thoughtfully planted by the old
padres. The avenue is three miles in length. As we walked under
the refreshing shadow of these venerable trees (recalling the Al-
madas of Spain), and heard the chime of the old bells which in
former times had gathered the simple aborigines together, we could not
but be impressed with the astonishing changes which had taken place.

It is very remarkable to what an extent the Indians have dis-
appeared. In and about San Francisco, for a distance of fifty miles,
I have not seen one. The same has been my experience at San Jose
and at Santa Clara ; also in crossing the Coast Range to Santa Cruz.
In visiting the mammoth trees at the Mariposa Grove, we saw a few
Indians, as we did also in the Yo-Semite Valley. Here I conversed
with the Indian who served as a guide when the whites first entered
the valley, at which time the tribe (having committed many depre-
dations) were driven out. The Indians now residing in this region
are harmless and peaceable. There are two tribes, — the Mono and
the Pono Indians. I visited them in their rude wigwams, where I saw
them pounding acorns which they had gathered for food, upon a rock ;
and these I saw them boil by throwing hot stones into the water, pre-
cisely as was done when the white man first came to this shore. They
use implements of stone, similar to those used by the Indians on our
own coast when the Pilgrims landed ; and I saw arrow-heads made of
flint, very symmetrical, some, of which I obtained.

But, in an historical point of view, perhaps the most interesting fact
of all is this : that in San Francisco exist the original Spanish
Archives, in which the whole early history of this part of the country
may be traced. When our government took possession of the country,
these papers came into its hands. They were concealed at first at
Los Angeles ; at length they were obtained and brought to Monterey.
They were placed, in 1851, by the United-States government, under
the charge of the surveyor-general. In 1858, the Hon. Edwin M.
Stanton came officially to this place, and found the papers disarranged,
and more than one half (now in this collection) were still in other
parts of the country. By his influence and under his oversight, they
were brought together, collated, systematically arranged, and sub-

1870.} LETTER FROM REV. R. C. WATERSTON. 351

stantially bound. Thus to his forethought, the country is greatly
indebted that these Spanish and Mexican Archives are in their
present admirable condition, and available for study and reference.

They are comprised in about one thousand volumes, — six hundred
volumes, chiefly in manuscript, relating to grants of land; and in
addition, some three hundred quarto volumes, averaging eight hundred
pages each, containing in manuscript, in the original draft, or in the
original form : —

First. The Royal Decrees, as they came from the Spanish govern*
ment. These are signed, — " Yo el Rey : " I the King.

Second. Official orders and correspondence of Viceroys of Mexico.

Third. The official correspondence of the Governors of the Province
with various subordinate authorities, extending from 1775 down to
1844.

Fourth. Records and correspondence relating to Missions, Presidios,
and Pueblos ; with the government and management of the same.

Fifth. Civil, Military, and Ecclesiastical Records, together with
Legislative and Judicial Proceedings ; many of which are exceedingly
curious.

Sixth. Miscellaneous Records, containing the daily domestic history
of that time ; often throwing light upon the past condition of things,
the motives and views which were cherished, with the manners and
customs of the people.

Seventh. A valuable correspondence by navigators of different
nations, in as many as ten languages, — documents dating as far
back as 1767. Some of these, written elsewhere, antedate the first
settlement of the country. These papers contain the history of the
coast, from Cape Horn to Columbia River, embracing a hundred years.
Here are manuscripts relating to Vancouver (dated 1795) ; also to
the celebrated voyage of Captain Cook, together with accounts of
Russian Admirals, English Captains, and French Explorers.

As early as 1788, statements begin to be made of Boston
Traders. There is reason to believe that not one vessel has come
here of which there is not some authentic record, particularly if the
crew or officers have landed. It is an undeniable fact that from the
commencement of the century, for twenty-five years, by far the larger
number of vessels arriving here were from Boston. This made such
an impression upon the Indians, that, even to this day, they call all
Americans " Bostons ! " A large business, it was well known, was
early carried on in furs (commencing as early as 1790). In 1784, John

352 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

Ledyard (of whom an interesting Memoir was written by President
Sparks), having visited the Pacific in company with Captain Cook,
communicated important information to Thomas Jefferson (then, I
think, in Paris) respecting this region ; after which, he was induced to
return to make additional explorations, at which time he was arrested.

The enterprise, courage, and determination of the Yankee traders,
at a very early day, awakened the suspicion and jealousy of the
Spanish government. The authorities of the Province were con-
stantly admonished to watch them closely, and to prevent any
encroachment. The Spaniards seemed to have an instinctive dread
of that intellectual and physical force which was destined to make
itself so powerfully felt upon this coast at a later day. Therefore
every movement was watched with constant vigilance, and no one was
allowed to gain any footing if by any possibility it could be prevented.

In 1792, Captain Robert Gray, in the ship "Columbia" from
Boston, discovered the Columbia River, which was named after his
ship. (I send with this the translation of a letter, with orders
respecting this vessel,* in which are various mistakes, — as that the
vessel was owned by General Washington, &c.)

Mention is made, I am told by the Keeper of the Archives, of
Captain William Sturgis, our late fellow-townsman and associate, who
early came to this coast, and drew up a paper on the subject for the
Historical Society.

The name also, I believe, of Captain Thompson occurs as that of
the master of the " Alert," the vessel in which Richard H. Dana, Jr.,
first visited this place ; and by the account of his experience, in the
" Two Years before the Mast," has justly caused his name to be for
ever associated with this coast.

Mention is made in 1810 of the ship " Albatross," which arrived
from Boston with a company of hunters and trappers ; and there is an
account also of the burning of the ship "Boston" in 1803, when a
party of Indians asked to come on board, and in a friendly spirit dance
upon the deck. Bringing with them concealed weapons, at a given
signal they murdered the whole crew except two, who escaped, hiding
themselves until the next year, when another ship arrived. The
account is here recorded as it was given by the survivors at that time.

* This was during her first visit to this coast, under the command of Captain John
Kendrick. She sailed from Boston on the 30th of September, 1787, arrived on the
coast in September 1789, and remained there one year, trading with the natives. — Eds.

1870.] LETTER FROM REV. R. C. WATERSTON. 353

Mr. R. C. Hopkins, the Keeper of the Archives, has most cour-
teously offered me every facility for examining these papers. He has
also promised to look over the volumes, and make extracts of pas-
sages which may be of special interest with us, and to translate any
papers which may be desirable.

Should any member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, or the
Society itself, desire any portion of these Records to be examined, or
a copy made, respecting any statements of vessels arriving upon this
coast, from the commencement of the century or somewhat earlier, Mr.
Hopkins assures me he will, with pleasure, see that it is faithfully done.

There is certainly ample material among these manuscripts for the
antiquary and the historian. There are pages over which the scholar
and the statesman may ponder. The blind policy of the Spanish gov-
ernment, and the illiberal spirit of Spanish America, brought with it
weakness and self-destruction.

Each step which led to the final downfall may be traced in these
Records ; while the beneficial results of Republican principles, with
their expanding power, constantly developing new enterprise, may be
witnessed on every side in what is transpiring to-day.

I feel sure that the members of the Massachusetts Historical Society
will rejoice not only in the present prosperity of this remarkable por-
tion of our country, but that they will appreciate the faithful care
which has so considerately preserved these Records, placing them
under watchful guardianship, and seeking to make them available, as
far as possible, for the general good.

With the highest respect, most truly yours,

R. C. Waterston.

P. S. — The first allusion to an American ship in the Archives of
California is in a letter by the Governor of the Province, Don Pedro
Fages, — dated May, 1789, — to Don Josef Arguello, Captain of the
Presidio of San Francisco.

" Keservada."

" Siempre que arrive a ese Puerto de S n Fran co ," &c.
Confidential.

Whenever there may arrive at the Port of San Francisco a Ship named the
Columbia,* said to belong to General Washington [Gral Wanghengton] of the

* In company with the "Columbia" was the "Washington," a vessel of one hun-
dred tons' burden, commanded by Capt. Robert Gray; who, in 1792, as I have already
said, was master of the "Columbia" herself. (Sparks's Life of Ledyard, p. 183.)

354 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

American States, under command of John Kendrick, which sailed from Boston
in Sepr 1787, bound on a voyage of Discovery & of Examination of the Russian
Establishments on the Northern Coast of this Peninsula, you will cause said
vessel to be secured together with her officers and crew, directing that discretion
and care be used in performing this duty, using in the execution of the same
the small boat which you have in your possession, and doing the same with
every other suspicious foreign vessel, giving me prompt notice of the same.

May God preserve your life many years.

Pedro Fages.
Santa Barbara

May 13 th 1789.

To Josef Arguello.

The " Columbia " was the first ship which sailed up the Columbia
River, and from her the river received its name. This was in 1791.

The President, referring to the death of our Corresponding
Member, the Hon. John Pendleton Kennedy, spoke as fol-
lows : —

It is with no little personal sorrow that I announce the
death of my cherished friend, the Honorable John Pendleton
Kennedy, who was elected a Corresponding Member of this
Society in 1858. I am sure the Society will indulge me,
this morning, in dwelling at some length on the character
and career of one, who had far higher claims than any friend-
ship or affection of mine could give him to the regard and
respect of his contemporaries.

Mr. Kennedy was born on the 25th of October, 1795, in the
city of Baltimore ; where his father, of Irish origin, who died
early, was then a prosperous merchant. His mother, who
lived to see her son — and he was her eldest — at the height
of his reputation as an author and statesman, was a daughter
of Philip Pendleton, of Berkeley County, Virginia, of a family
distinguished by the virtues and accomplishments of more
than one of its members. Graduated at Baltimore College
in 1812, he soon selected the law as his profession. But our
war with England was just then at its commencement ; and
his pursuits were interrupted by the excitements of the period,

1870.] TRIBUTES TO THE HON. JOHN P. KENNEDY. 355

and by the perils to which his native city was peculiarly
exposed. With his friend, the late Mr. George Peabody, he
volunteered and served as a private at the battles of Bladens-
burg and North Point ; and with him, not many years ago,
received from the United States the bounty land awarded to
that service.

Admitted to the Baltimore Bar in 1816, he practised with
success for several years, at a period when that Bar was
adorned by such men as William Pinkney and William Wirt
and the late Chief-Justice Taney; with more than one of
whom he was sometimes associated as junior counsel in
important, causes, and with all of whom he was on terms
of personal friendship. His taste for literary life, however,
soon came in conflict with that for legal studies ; and as early
as 1818 he had become joint editor, with his accomplished
friend, the late Peter Hoffman Cruse, of a little fortnightly
serial, in prose and verse, under the title of " The Red
Book." This little work was continued for two or three
years, and its contents subsequently collected into two
volumes.

And now the attractions of political service and public
employment threatened to draw him away both from litera-
ture and from law. He was induced to take an active part
in the Presidential campaign of 1820 ; and in the same year
was elected a member of the House of Delegates of Maryland.
In that body he rendered conspicuous service for several
years ; a part of the time as Speaker, and always as an
intelligent and earnest advocate of measures for improv-
ing the financial condition and restoring the credit of the
State.

In 1823, he accepted an appointment from President Mon-
roe, as Secretary of our Legation to Chili ; and I have
heard him describe most humorously his first interview with
the late John Quincy Adams, — then Secretary of State, of
whom in later years he enjoyed the intimate acquaintance

356 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

and friendship, — when he called on Mr. Adams at the State
Department for his instructions, preparatory to embarking
for his post. " Instructions ! " said Mr. Adams. " The only
instructions I have to give you at present are these ; " and
reaching up, with the aid of a chair, to a high shelf, or pigeon-
hole, in his bookcase, he handed him a carefully prepared
description and drawing of the uniform which our Legations
abroad were then required to wear, — not yet discarded as
inconsistent with Republican principles, — and told him to
provide himself accordingly. Mr. Kennedy's youthful aspira-
tions for diplomacy were not stimulated, or altogether satisfied,
by this view of what was expected of him ; and, before it was
too late, he obtained leave to resign the appointment.

His interest in public affairs, however, continued unabated ;
and, in the intervals of professional labor, he prepared and pub-
lished a number of political essays, which attracted a wide and
marked attention. Having warmly espoused the views of Henry
Clay (of whom not long afterwards he became one of the most
trusted and valued friends) on the subject of American Industry,
he wrote and printed, in 1830, an elaborate and masterly reply
to Mr. Cambreleng's memorable Report on Commerce and
Navigation, which had a general circulation throughout the
country ; and in the following year he rendered eminent
service, by tongue and pen, at a National Convention of the
friends of Manufacturing Industry, held in the City of New
York.

But it soon appeared that his more purely literary labors
had by no means been abandoned or suspended, and that he
was destined to make no common mark — for that period,
certainly — in a line of literature in which our own hon-
ored Founder, Dr. Jeremy Belknap, had led the way in
1792, by his American tale, " The Foresters " ; and in which
Charles Brockden Brown and Washington Irving and James
Fenimore Cooper had since been so conspicuous.

In 1832, Mr. Kennedy published his first novel, under the

1870.] TRIBUTES TO THE HON. JOHN P. KENNEDY. 357

name of " Swallow Barn, or a Sojourn in the Old Dominion " ;
a work which produced a decided impression, and which
received high commendations from the pen of Edward
Everett, in the " North American Review," the only vehicle
at that time of well-considered literary criticism in our part of
the country. Its sketches of Virginia life and manners, includ-
ing a very notable chapter on Slavery, entitled " The Quarter,"
furnish the best picture we have even now of that section of the
Union at the period to which they relate, and possess not a
little of historical interest and permanent value. This, too,
may be said, even more emphatically, of his second novel,
" Horse-Shoe Robinson, a Tale of the Tory Ascendency,"
published in 1835 ; of which the scene was laid in the Caro-
linas, during our Revolutionary struggle, and of which the
hero was drawn from the life, — the incidents of his remark-
able career having been derived from his own lips by Mr.
Kennedy himself, while he was residing at the South for the
benefit of his health, in 1819.

A third novel, " Rob of the Bowl ; a Legend of St. Inigoes,"
in which there is much historical matter connected with the
religious commotions in Maryland, in the time of the second
Lord Baltimore, was published by him in 1838 ; and in 1840
he produced, in a fourth volume, under the title of " The
Annals of Quodlibet," a humorous and satirical account of
the Presidential campaign in which he was at that moment a
prominent actor, with an almost dramatic presentment, under
fictitious names, of scenes which had actually occurred within
the range of his own observation and experience.

Mr. Kennedy had now, however, become a member of Con-
gress, having been chosen as one of the Representatives of
the Baltimore District in 1838, and having been re-elected in
1841 and 1843. His services at Washington were of the
highest value and importance ; and particularly those which he
rendered as Chairman of the Committee on Commerce in the
Twenty-seventh Congress. Having been associated with him

358 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

as his second on that Committee, as well as in the intimacies
of a common table and of apartments under a common roof,
I can bear personal testimony to the diligence and ability
which he brought to the public business. His Reports on
subjects connected with our Commercial System, and par-
ticularly on our proposed Reciprocity Treaties, were elaborate
and exhaustive ; and his speeches were forcible and eloquent.
I cannot forget that we were together, too, on that Committee,
when, not without hesitation and distrust, the first appro-
priation was reported to enable Mr. Morse to try the
experiment, between Washington and Baltimore, of that
Magnetic Telegraph, which now covers our continent, and
encircles the earth. Though the Report was written and pre-
sented by another hand, it owed much of its success, both in
Committee and in the House, to the earnest support of Mr.
Kennedy.

In 1844, he published a very striking little volume, called
" A Defence of the Whigs," which became almost a hand-book
of politicians, and which contains an admirable vindication of
the party with which he was always connected as long as it
existed. But that party had but a precarious and fitful suprem-
acy in Baltimore ; and at the next election, in 1845, he failed
of a majority, and was never again returned to Congress.
The following year, however, found him again in the Chair
of the House of Delegates at Annapolis, having been elected
once more to the Legislature of Maryland, after an interval of
five and twenty years, with a view to an important juncture
in the affairs of his native State.

This service rendered, Mr. Kennedy once more quietly
resumed his literary labors ; and, as the result of them, pub-
lished, in 1849, an excellent biography, in two octavo volumes,
of the eminent lawyer and statesman, William Wirt, — one of
the purest and best of the public men of his day, upon
whom Mr. Kennedy had delivered a Eulogy, immediately after
his death, in 1834. This work — in which the author sedu-

1870.] TRIBUTES TO THE HON. JOHN P. KENNEDY. 359

lously avoided all personal display, and allowed Mr. Wirt to
exhibit himself to the best advantage in his own brilliant
public addresses and lively familiar correspondence — was
recognized everywhere as a valuable contribution to American
Biography, and to the history of the times ; and no better
book of its kind could have been placed in the hands of the
young men of the United States, to whom it was dedicated.

Meantime and previously, Mr. Kennedy hafi delivered not
a few occasional Discourses, mostly of an historical character :
one, in 1835, before the American Institute of New York;
another, in the same year, before the Faculty of Arts and
Sciences of the University of Maryland, in which he had been
appointed Professor of History, and of which he was the
Provost for many years before his death ; and a third, in
1845, before the Maryland Historical Society, of which he was
Vice-President, on the Life and Character of George Calvert,
the first Lord Baltimore, which involved him in a sharp con-
troversy with several of the Roman Catholics of Maryland,
to whom he made an elaborate rejoinder, exhibiting great
ability and research. His Address, too, before the Maryland
Institute, in 1851, published with engraved illustrations of the
old town of Baltimore, as it was just a hundred years before,
was replete with valuable local descriptions and details.

In 1852, on the resignation of Governor Graham of North
Carolina, who had been appointed Secretary of the Navy by
President Fillmore, on his succession to the Presidency after
the lamented death of General Taylor, Mr. Kennedy was
called to preside over the Navy Department of the United
States ; and continued a member of the Cabinet, of which his
friends Mr. Webster and Mr. Everett were successively the
chiefs, until the change of Administration, in March, 1853.
This was the period of some of our most interesting Naval
Scientific Expeditions : that of Commodore Perry to Japan ;
and that of Dr. Kane to the Arctic Ocean, in search of Sir John
Franklin, for which Mr. Kennedy prepared the instructions,

360 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

and gave to it the most effective encouragement. His name
was accordingly given by Dr. Kane to one of the channels
which he discovered, and was inscribed on his map of the
Arctic Regions.

The visit of Mr. George Peabody to his native land in 1856,
and his noble endowment of the Peabody Institute in Bal
timore, where, as a young banker, he had for some years
resided, afforded Mr. Kennedy a new subject of interest, and
opened to him a new field of useful labor. He was at once
selected by Mr. Peabody, as the Chairman of the Board of
Trustees for his great gift to the Baltimore Institute ; and I
have the best authority for knowing how earnestly he entered
upon and pursued the work of organization committed to him,
and how highly and gratefully his services were appreciated
by Mr. Peabody to the last.

The darkest days of our country were now rapidly approach-
ing. Mr. Kennedy was never, I believe, an owner of slaves,
nor ever a supporter or apologist for slavery. But, on the
other hand, he had never co-operated or sympathized with
the extreme Abolitionists of the North, and had always united
in measures for securing to his own, and the other Southern
States, the rights in regard to this institution which were
expressed or implied in the Constitution of the United States,
as he understood its provisions. No northern man, however,
could have been more averse than he was to the extension of
slavery into new territories. He was, moreover, a devoted
lover of the Union, and held in abhorrence all ideas either of
peaceable or forcible secession or nullification. Living in a
Border State, where the personal and party feuds which pre-
ceded and followed the outbreak of the Rebellion were so violent
and bitter, and upon which at one time it seemed as if the
whole brunt of the battle might fall, his first hopes undoubtedly
were, as were those of many of his friends farther North, that
some arrangement or adjustment might be devised, with a view
to prevent the fratricidal strife, and avert the full horrors of

1870.] TRIBUTES TO THE HON. JOHN P. KENNEDY. 361

Civil War. He was in complete accord with the great Boston
Memorial to that effect, which, under the lead of Mr. Everett,
and in company with others of all parties, I had a share in
the privilege of bearing to Congress in January, 1861. In
this spirit, he published, a few weeks before the first fatal
blow had been struck, a pamphlet entitled " The Border
States ; their Power and Duty," which presented the great
questions before the country with boldness and signal ability,
and appealed to the Border States to interpose, by some
separate concerted action, for the settlement of all issues in
dispute, and for the ultimate preservation of the Union.
Reviewed in the light of subsequent developments and of
final results, this appeal would probably be regarded with less
approbation than it was at the time of its publication. But
even then, as it soon proved, the time for discussion had
passed, and little remained but to resist force by force. In
that contest, Mr. Kennedy's influence and efforts were strongly
and unqualifiedly on the side of the Government and the
Union, and no coldness of friends, or dangers from enemies,
could deter or daunt him.

During the progress of the War, he communicated a series
of Letters to the " National Intelligencer," under the assumed
name of u Paul Ambrose," in which he ably discussed " the
principles and incidents of the Rebellion as these rose to view
in the rapid transit of events " ; which were collected and pub-
lished in a volume, with his own name, in 1865. This was
the last work which he gave to the public ; and he soon after-
wards embarked for Europe, in the hope of reinvigorating his
somewhat shattered health.

It was not his first visit abroad. He had crossed the Atlan-
tic twice before, and was no stranger to some of the best of
English and European society. In those visits, he had renewed
the intimacy with Thackeray and Dickens which he had
enjoyed while they were in America, and had formed many
other friendships with the literary men of France and England.

362 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

During his last tour, he was selected by Mr. Seward as one of
the United-States Commissioners, at the grand Exposition
of the Industry of all Nations in Paris, and in that capacity
rendered valuable services ; especially as one of the small
select Commission, under the Presidency of Prince Napoleon,
to which the subject of a uniform Decimal Currency was
referred.

Mr. Kennedy had more than once contemplated giving to
the press his " Notes of Travel," of which he has left many
manuscript volumes, carefully composed and revised, which
may still, I trust, furnish the material of a posthumous pub-
lication.

On his last return home, in October, 1868, he presided at a
great Republican Mass Meeting in Baltimore ; and made an
earnest and eloquent appeal to the South to acquiesce cordially
in the results of the War, and to unite " in that new pathway
which Providence has ordained to be the line of our future
march to the highest destiny of nations." This was his last
public word.

In looking back on the life which has been thus rapidly
sketched, and comparing his capacities for usefulness with his
actual career, one cannot but feel how much has been lost to
the best service of the country, in his case as in too many
others, by the accidents of politics, and the caprices of parties.
As a Senator, or as a Diplomatist, he would have done
eminent honor to the nation at home or abroad ; and he
seemed particularly suited, by his abilities, his accomplish-
ments, and his tastes, for prolonged and continuous service
in spheres like these. But it was not in his nature to seek
them, and it was not his fortune to enjoy them. I may be
pardoned for recalling, in such a connection, those striking
lines of Coleridge : —

" How seldom, Friend ! a good great man inherits
Honor or wealth, with all his worth and pains !
It sounds like stories from the world of spirits

1870.]" TRIBUTES TO THE HON. JOHN P. KENNEDY. 363

If any man obtain that which he merits,
Or any merit that which he obtains.

Goodness and greatness are not means, but ends !

Hath he not always treasures, always friends,

The good great man 1 —r three treasures, love, and light,

And calm thoughts, regular as infant's breath ;

And three firm friends, more sure than day and night, —

Himself, his Maker, and the angel Death."

Mr. Kennedy, as a man, was greater and better than all his
books. One certainly looks in vain in all that he wrote or
did for the full measure of those gifts and acquirements of
mind and heart, that learning and wisdom, that wit and
humor, that whole-souled cordiality and gayety and kindness,
which shone out so conspicuously in the intimacies of daily
intercourse. A truer friend or more charming companion
has rarely been found or lost by those who have enjoyed
the privilege of his companionship and friendship ; and among
those may be counted not a few of our most distinguished
authors and statesmen. A delightful week which I passed
under his roof, many years ago, gave me an opportunity of
witnessing the esteem and affection in which he was held by
my only fellow-guest, Washington Irving, — whose Life, indeed,
contains more than one letter to him, beginning, " Dear Horse
Shoe," and ending " Geoffrey Crayon."

Though far advanced in his seventy-fifth year, and though he
had occasionally suffered not a little of late from severe phy-
sical infirmities, Mr. Kennedy was naturally of so genial and
joyous a temper, and sympathized so warmly with the young
and gay, that the idea of his being an old man had hardly yet
occurred to any one but himself. In the eyes of those around
him, he seemed to have nothing of age except its experience
and its mellowness. He was not insensible himself, however,
to the approach of the inexorable hour. In a letter which I
received from him not many weeks ago, — one of the last of
a series running through a term of more than thirty years, —
he said to me with more of sadness than I had ever known

364 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

him to write, certainly in regard to himself: " It is but small
consolation to me — when I look at my letter-file, and see
three or four of your letters asking for a word of recognition,
— to argue my good intentions, and my infirmity of hand, for
that silence which I daily resolve to break ; for it is so per-
sistently followed by a new delinquency, in the breach of my
resolve, as to bring me nothing better than a new regret.
But I know you will pardon these habitual shortcomings, —
like the good and trusty friend you have always been, — and
indulge me in that constrained silence, which is, in truth,
only the sign and warning of one more inevitable, that comes
with gentle step and, I trust, a friendly message to make it
welcome."

A few weeks more at Saratoga Springs, by the advice of his
physician, and a few weeks afterwards at Newport, where he
had fixed his summer residence for several years past, com-
pleted his earthly career. A hidden malady was developed,
which, after two days of agony, patiently and bravely borne,
and one day of tranquil slumbers, released him to his rest.
I may not omit to add that, in a blessed interval of wakefulness
and ease, he eagerly renewed those pledges of Christian faith
which he had often given in health, and was able to take leave
of those dearest to him, as he said, " in perfect peace of mind
and body."

He died at Newport, on the 18th of August ; and his remains
were at once removed to his native city, to repose in the neigh-
boring Green Mount Cemetery, at the dedication of which he
had delivered the Address, in 1839.

Mr. Kennedy left no children. His wife, who, with her
sister, has rendered his home for more than thirty years so
dear and delightful to himself, and so attractive to his friends,
is a daughter of the late Edward Gray, Esq., of Baltimore, one
of the worthiest and most respected merchants of that city ; of
whom Irving, on hearing of his death in 1856, wrote thus, in
words which I can indorse with all my heart : " To be under

1870.] TRIBUTES TO THE HON. JOHN P. KENNEDY. 365

his roof, in Baltimore, or at Ellicott's Mills, was to be in a
constant state of quiet enjoyment to me. Every thing that I
saw in him, and in those about him ; in his tastes, habits,
mode of life ; in his domestic relations and chosen intimacies,
— continually struck upon some happy chord in my own
bosom, and put me in tune with the world and with human
nature."

Mr. Kennedy received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of
Laws from Harvard University in 1863 ; and has been, for
some years, an Associate Fellow of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences.

Professor James Russell Lowell then said : —

Mr. President, — In the few words I shall say of Mr. Ken-
nedy, I shall speak of him as it is fitting to speak of a man
who made affection easy, and whom a short acquaintance had
invested with something of the tender privilege of long friend-
ship. Death should give a shelter from vague eulogy no less
than from impertinent criticism. Here is no place for those
invidiosi veri, on which, one is sometimes tempted to think,
the Anglo-Saxon conscience is apt to lay an undue emphasis.

It is very likely that Mr. Kennedy could not be called a man
of genius in the creative sense of that somewhat elastic word ;
but it is surely something to his honor, that, amid the mani-
fold distractions of a busy and public life, he should have
cherished the sweet and pure ambition of letters, of a higher
and more durable success than politics and popularity can
offer. In a society so prosperously active as ours, it is of good
example to have had an intellectual ideal, and perhaps it is
fairer here than elsewhere to measure a man rather by his
aims than by his performance. After all, unless we adopt the
plan of Pepys, and allow shelf-room only to books of blue blood,
we must be willing to find a place for many volumes that
could not make their claims valid with the heralds of literature.
An exclusive commerce with the great may make us unduly

366 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

fastidious, and it is wholesome to unbend our faculties now
and then from the strain of that Alpine society in the company
of authors who simply know how to be agreeable. I think
Mr. Kennedy's books have this pleasant quality, — a secret not
seldom missed by writers more pretentious and of greater
power. They are refined, manly, considerate of our grosser
apprehensions ; they attempt no solution of the problem of
the Infinite (as it is called) ; they abound in cheerful pictures
of natural scenery ; and they will have a real value for the his-
torian, from their lively notices of manners already remote.
Perhaps the strongest impression they leave upon the mind is
that they were written by a gentleman, a profession of greater
consequence than is generally conceived.

Perhaps we overestimate the worth of mere literary ability.
The lion has been the painter this time, and authors have not
been slack in impressing on mankind the supreme importance
of their function. Nevertheless it may well be suspected that
the power of expressing fine sentiments is of a lower quality
than the less obtrusive skill of realizing them in the life and
character. This talent Mr. Kennedy possessed beyond most
men. One could not be in his company for never so short a
time, without being touched by that gentle consideration for
others which is the root of all good breeding. His courtesy
was not the formal discipline of elegant manners. There was
a sense of benefaction in it. Whoever came near him felt the
friendly charm which his nature radiated, so that his very
house seemed steeped in it and welcomed you no less heartily
than he. He was in the highest sense a genial man. He
had a singular gift for companionship, for being something
better than his books, and his finer qualities were lured out by
the sympathy of the fireside. He was excellent in anecdote
and reminiscence. His talk had just that pleasant suspicion
of scholarship in it that befits the drawing-room, and never
degenerated to the coarser flavor of pedantry. He could
quote his bit of Horace or Virgil on occasion, which used to

1870.] TRIBUTES TO THE HON. JOHN P. KENNEDY. 367

be the neck-verse of cultivated men. He had the somewhat
rare excellence of being playfully earnest ; and, though he had
stroug convictions, never made them the scourge of other
men.

But though gentleness was a prime quality in this gracious
temperament, he could, when the times demanded, show quali-
ties of stouter fibre. During the war of the Eebellion he
stood firmly by the Nation, though it cost him a social position,
which, to a man of his affectionate nature and social instincts,
was dearer than any thing but duty. In the North it was easy
to be loyal, — it was sometimes even profitable; but in Mary-
land loyalty meant ostracism, and might mean something
worse. For Mr. Kennedy it sundered lifelong ties of friend-
ship, and habitudes of society scarce less painful in the break-
ing. He might have escaped it all by a judicious impartiality
between right and wrong ; nay, even by a little of that caution
which we call meanness if it fail, and prudence if it prosper.
But he was a brave man, and chose the nobler privilege of
danger.

How much fame may fall to his share, it would be out of
place to compute too closely. Suffice it that he at least escaped
its vulgar makeweight, notoriety. Surely he has something
better, as it is sweeter, in gentle memories that will perish
only with the last of those who knew him.

The Hon. George S. Hillard next addressed the meeting :

I should not have added any thing to what has been
said in honor of Mr. Kennedy, were it not that I am one of
the few now present that were personally acquainted with
him. This acquaintance was not of long duration, nor was
it intimate ; indeed, my personal knowledge of him hardly
began before he was sixty ; but I knew him well enough to
feel able to give my emphatic assent to all that has been said
in commendation of him by Professor Lowell and yourself.

No one could see and know Mr. Kennedy without feeling

368 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

that he himself was more and better than his writings,
excellent and estimable as these are. He was a man whose
elements of growth were self-derived. He was born in a
Southern state, and had the best training which that portion
of the country could furnish at the time of his youth. The
natural drift of men so born and taught was to politics ; but
he resisted this general proclivity. He gave himself to
literature and law, and slid into politics incidentally and
accidentally ; and as literature was his first, it remained to the
last his strongest love.

Mr. Kennedy was delightful in all the social relations. He
was given to hospitality, and no man appeared to more
advantage when dispensing the gifts of hospitality. His
conversation was frank, easy, and hearty. Men in our
country, who have been much in public life, are apt to fall
into a cautious and non-committal style of discourse. They
are prone to talk with a vigilant self-observation, as if they
feared that their words might be reported to their disadvan-
tage by some unfriendly hearer. But he had none of this cold
and timid prudence. He spoke out that which was in him,
not fearing sometimes to utter what an ever cautious temper
would have left unspoken. His conversation had the fresh-
ness, the freedom, the courage of youth. His mind, his heart,
never grew old.

Of his works of fiction my recollection is but indistinct ;
but I freshly remember his " Life of Wirt," and I think it one
of the most graceful, genial, and delightful pieces of biography
that the literature of our country has to show. And let me
here express the hope that some competent hand will do for
him what he did so well for his friend ; and the corre-
spondence and unpublished manuscripts of Kennedy will
surely afford to the biographer a theme not less full and
fruitful than that furnished by the life and labors of the
eminent lawyer, and more than respectable man of letters,
whom he so well commemorated.

1870.] TRIBUTES TO THE HON. JOHN P. KENNEDY. 3G9

The President then read the following letter from Pro-
fessor Oliver Wendell Holmes : —

164 Charles Street, Sept. 8th, 11 a.m.
My dear Mr. Winthrop :

I am much disappointed in finding myself still so far indisposed that
I do not feel like going to the meeting to-day.

The circumstance that I was probably the last member of our
Society who met Mr. Kennedy made me anxious to have an oppor-
tunity to add a few words to the tribute you will pay to his memory,
which I feel sure will be all that affectionate esteem and the knowledge
of a life-time can render it. I could really have contributed nothing,
except the memory of my few interviews, the two last of which, within
less than a week of Mr. Kennedy's death, were singularly delightful.
He was full of talk, so cheerful, so genial, so varied, — sometimes on
political and historical matters with which he was familiar, sometimes
relating personal experiences of which he had such a fund in his
memory, always lively, entertaining, graceful in his discourse, — that
I have rarely sat in a company when one man did more to keep all
the rest happy in listening to him. There was no look of warning, no
tone that could suggest a melancholy foreboding ; but, bright and brave
in the face of fast gaining infirmity which he would not betray to
sadden others, he shed sunshine about him to the last.

It is singular that, having met him so few times, I should feel as if
I knew him so well, and regret his loss so deeply. It was not merely
because he was of a true and generous nature, and of a fine intelligence
and culture, but because he was so frank and hearty with those whom
he honored with his friendship, that a week with him was like a year
with a man of a narrower mould and colder feelings.

I have written at a moment's notice, as I did hope to be with you ;
but if you can make any use of my note, pray do so.

Believe me, dear Mr. Winthrop,

Yours faithfully,

O. W. Holmes.

The President laid upon the table some sheets of the public
Acts of Connecticut, now in course of publication, sent to him
by Mr. Hoadly, who called special attention to " An Act "

370 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

included therein (Chapter CX. p. 463) " for the Preservation
of Ancient Town Records " : —

An Act for the Preservation of Ancient Town Records.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly
convened :

Sec. 1. It shall be the duty of the town clerk, in each town in this State,
having manuscript volumes of town records, containing entries of deeds, town
votes, wills, or judicial proceedings made prior to the year 1700, to cause copies
to be made of all such entries, in a fair and legible hand, to the satisfaction of the
State librarian; and to transmit said copies to the State librarian on or before
the fourth day of July, 1871, for preservation in the State library.

Sec 2. It shall be the duty of the State librarian to procure and furnish to
the town clerks of the several towns above referred to, suitable blank-books,
substantially bound, in which to make said copies.

Sec. 3. As soon as any book containing such copies shall be received and
approved by the State librarian, he shall give to the town clerk from whom he
shall have received the same an order for such sum as said librarian may deem a
reasonable compensation for making said copies ; and the comptroller is hereby
authorized to approve and allow all orders so given, and also such further
accounts as said State librarian may contract in procuring and furnishing the
blank-books described in section second ; and to draw upon the State treasurer
for the payment of the same.

Approved July 15th, 1870.

In a former letter received from Mr. Hoadly by the Presi-
dent, the writer thus refers to the recent recovery of a valua-
ble manuscript book of laws : —

In 1859, the laws of the Territory and Dominion of New England
were printed for the first time by Mr. Trumbull in the Appendix to
the Colonial Records of Connecticut, 1678-1689, pp. 402-436, from
the only manuscript then known to exist. Quite recently I have dis-
covered another manuscript which contains those laws, and also the act
or order concerning local laws alluded to on page 439 of Mr. Trum-
bull's volume. This manuscript enables us to supply some deficiencies
in the manuscript used by Mr. Trumbull, and to correct the text in
several places. Do you think that the Massachusetts Historical Society
would like to reprint those laws ?

The Memoir of the late Rev. N. L. Frothingham, D.D., by
Professor Hedge, was announced as ready for publication, and
is here given.

tf>?Zt^

1870.J

MEMOIR

NATHANIEL LANGDON FROTHINGHAM, D.D.

BY FREDERIC H. HEDGE.

The city of Boston owes much to her clergy. From the first
they have been her intellectual leaders and literary lights, as
well as spiritual guides. Among the honored of this pro-
fession, the subject of this brief notice merits a conspicuous
place.

Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham, son of Ebenezer Froth-
ingham and Joanna Langdon, was born in Boston, on the
twenty-third day of July, in the year 1793. Of his boyhood,
there is nothing to record but his diligent scholarship and
extraordinary intellectual promise. At school, in his native
city, he took a high rank, and received the customary honors.
At the age of fourteen he was entered as a student of Harvard
College, a classmate of Edward Everett, in the Class of 1811.

Of his college life, another classmate and friend, the Rev.
Dr. Allen, of Northborough, has kindly communicated, at my
request, the following reminiscence : —

" Dr. Frothingham was one of my most intimate friends in College,
and our intimacy and friendship lasted through life. He was one of
the younger members of the Class ; and although from the first a dili-
gent student and a good scholar, it was not, I think, till his third year
that he gained a high rank among his fellow-students. But at the close
of his college course, he was surpassed by very few ; and as a reward

372 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

of distinguished merit, an English Oration, out of the usual course,
was assigned him for Commencement. He was an elegant classical
scholar, a fine writer in prose and verse ; and in elocution he was sur-
passed by none of his classmates, not excepting Edward Everett. He
was a great favorite — almost a pet — of Dr. McKean, the Professor
of Rhetoric, who seemed to regard him as a model orator.

" Through his college life he maintained an irreproachable character,
and was highly esteemed by his classmates ; who, without jealousy
or envy, watched his progress, and were proud of his fame."

In 1812, he received the appointment of Preceptor of
Ehetoric and Oratory at Harvard, an office for which, even
at the early age of nineteen, he was judged to be well qualified
by his exquisite taste and brilliant success in that department.
His duties in this capacity were not onerous, and left him
abundant leisure for the study of that profession to which he
had already turned his thoughts, and was ready to devote his
gifts and powers. During the three years of academic office,
he was making preparation for the ministry ; and in 1815 he
accepted a call to the pastorate of the First Church in Boston, a
post in which the example of illustrious predecessors supplied
a strong incentive to noble effort and a rule of beneficent
action. Of his success in this connection, there are many
witnesses. He attached to himself a strong and united
parish, to which he ministered long enough to see one gene-
ration of worshippers pass and another take their place ; long
enough to teach the children of those whom as children he
had taught and baptized. His " Congregation at the First
Church," says one of the notices that followed his death,
" included a large number of scholars and writers, among
whom were Edward Everett, William H. Prescott, George Ban-
croft, Joseph T. Buckingham, Henry T. Tuckerman, Charles
Francis Adams, and Charles Sprague."

In 1818, he married Ann Gorham Brooks, daughter of the
late Peter C. Brooks of Boston, and sister of Mrs. Edward
Everett and Mrs. Charles Francis Adams. From this union
has sprung a numerous family of children, of whom the third

1870.] MEMOIR OF NATHANIEL L. FROTHINGHAM, D.D. 373

son, Octavius Brooks Fro thin gham, embraced the father's pro-
fession, and now holds a conspicuous place among the most
gifted and popular preachers of New York.

In 1826, Dr. Frothingham obtained, by consent of his par-
ish, a year's respite from his labors ; and was able to gratify
the long-cherished wish of his heart in a visit to Europe, from
which he returned toward the close of the summer of 1827.
Twenty-two years later, in 1849, a period of ill health occa-
sioned a second and shorter visit, from which the tourist
returned, with health still impaired, to occupy but a few
months longer the post of duty which had tasked the strength
of his manhood.

In 1850, after a ministry of thirty-five years, he retired from
the pulpit, and resigned his pastoral connection with the First
Church. After this, he occasionally, but rarely, by special
request, took part in the public services of religion. " His last
appearance in the pulpit," says the notice already quoted from
the " Transcript," " was at the impromptu meeting in Hollis-
street Church, on the day of the assassination of President
Lincoln. His remarkable prayer on that occasion will never
be forgotten by those who heard 'it. Beautiful, fitting, and
appropriate in itself, his blindness gave added pathos to his
heartfelt devotion."

But the years which followed his withdrawal from public
duty were by no means years of idleness. He occupied him-
self with literary labors, and some of the choicest productions
of his pen are the fruits of this long retirement. In 1852, he
gave to the press a volume entitled " Sermons in the Order
of a Twelve-month," containing some of the best of his pro-
fessional discourses, all of which breathe a lofty strain of
Christian thought and sentiment, and are characterized by
that singular beauty of diction which all his critics acknowl-
edge to be a distinguishing trait of Dr. Frothingham's writing.
In 1855, he published a volume of poems, to which he gave
the title " Metrical Pieces." Notwithstanding this modest

374 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

designation, these compositions have secured to him an honor-
able place among American poets.

In the spring of 1859, he made his third visit to Europe.
In this tour he was accompanied by his family ; they spent a
year and a half in travel, returning in November, 1860.

Soon after his return, his eyesight, which had always been
myopic, began rapidly to fail ; and symptoms of glaucoma
threatened the entire loss of vision which other members of
his family had suffered before him. This affliction befell him
four years later, following hard on a great domestic bereave-
ment, — the loss of his wife, the cherished companion of nearly
half a century of wedded life. In the summer of 1864, he
submitted to a painful operation ; which, instead of restoring,
as he had been led to hope, the use of his eyes, resulted in
total blindness. Into this night he sank at the age of seventy-
two, and in it groped the last six years of a life which till
then had been singularly prosperous and blest.

But no cloud obscured the intellectual day in which he
moved, and in which he still continued to work during nearly
five of those darkened years. With the aid of his faithful and
efficient secretary and friend, Miss Ellen M. Buckingham, he
brought his papers in order, dictated poems, translated Ger-
man hymns, and prepared the material of a second volume of
" Metrical Pieces," which, however, did not appear in print
until loss of faculty had precluded his own interest in the
publication.

Nothing was wanting to him in his decline of " that which
should accompany old age ; " not, certainly, " troops of
friends." He enjoyed their society, delighting in the sound
of familiar voices when familiar faces beamed on him in vain,
uid conversing with unimpaired faculty and zest until nearly
the last year of his life. " In my frequent visits to him," says
Dr. Allen, " in the ' evil days ' which came upon him after the
external world was shut out from his sight, I always found him
bright and cheerful, fond of recalling the scenes of our college

1870.] MEMOIR OF NATHANIEL L. FROTHINGHAM, D.D. 375

life and the memory of departed classmates and friends, and
thankful for the blessings that still remained."

Speaking of a prominent trait of Dr. Frothingham's char-
acter, the same friend writes : "I have personal knowledge
of his kindness and generosity, for I have been the almoner of
his bounty ; and I know that some — I believe that many —
recall his acts of kindness and bless his memory."

The last year, especially the last winter months, of his
mortal experience, were burdened with infirmities and pains
which leaned too hardly on his weakened frame, and shut out
every prospect but that of the great Beyond.

He died on Monday, the 4th of April, 1870. On the same
day, there appeared in the columns of the " Boston Tran-
script " an obituary notice, by the Rev. Mr. Fox, of which the
greater part is here subjoined : —

" Rev. Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham, D.D., died at his residence
in Newbury Street, Monday morning, at two o'clock ; receiving thus a
blessed relief from a protracted and painful sickness. Though for
several years he has been a sufferer in the seclusion of the sick-
chamber, and out of the sight of all. but a few friends and those who
ministered to him with unwearied, filial devotion, he has not been out
of the minds and the hearts of the many who highly esteemed and
greatly loved him ; and sincere sorrow will be mingled with the feeling
that his departure was ordered in mercy.

" Quietly devoted to his professional duties, Dr. Frothingham's life
was uneventful ; for it was the life of the student and the man of letters.
His learning was various and accurate ; and he was honored for his
acquirements, as well as for the high order of his intellectual gifts.
In social converse he was the coveted teacher and companion of our
best thinkers and scholars. His interest and delight in literary pur-
suits continued unabated when others, suffering from infirmities and
pains like his, would have abandoned their books and pens, and felt
that even to listen to reading was a luxury to be given up. Whilst
sickness allowed him to work, he was never idle.

" Dr. Frothingham published several volumes of prose and poetry ;
and to the ' Christian Examiner,' the ' North American Review,' and
several other periodicals, he frequently contributed articles of rare

376 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sbfi

excellence, both as to their substance and their form. His style was
singularly pure and rich ; showing a finish and correctness, in eloquent
paragraphs and exquisite sentences, quite unrivalled. His exaction
and fastidiousness, as a critic of the writings of others, were severely-
applied to his own productions ; and hence the polish, erudition, solid
brilliancy, lofty sentiment, and thoughtfulness, which have put them
among the best specimens of American literature.

" Of Dr. Frothingham as a man it is hardly necessary to speak in
this community, to those of his own day and generation, or to those
younger than himself, whose privilege it was to meet him and enjoy
intercourse with him. Courteous, genial, hospitable, liberal in his
conservatism, catholic in his judgments, free from all petty envies and
jealousies, without ostentation, and scorning loud or mere professions,
there was about him a winning charm that made his presence and his
speech ever welcome to all.

" It is impossible, in these necessarily hurried lines, to pay the
tribute due to his home virtues, conscientious patriotism, assiduity as a
Christian teacher, and readiness to contribute all in his power to the
advancement of sound learning, wise charities, refining art, and what-
ever else might serve to promote the intellectual and moral well-being
of the community.

" To his excellence and his example in these respects others will
hasten to do justice. We must be content with this general and im-
perfect expression of regard for the memory of one, whose works and
words are not to be forgotten or the less prized, because the close
of his more than threescore and ten years was veiled and hidden by
blindness and inexorable disease."

The funeral service was performed on the following Wed-
nesday (April 6th), in the newly erected church of his
parish, in Berkeley Street. The Rev. Dr. Gannett read appro-
priate selections from the Scriptures ; and the Rev. Dr. Ellis *
offered the customary prayer. A funeral address, delivered by
the Rev. Frederic H. Hedge, is appended to this brief memoir
by the same hand.

At the meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Society, of
which Dr. Frothingham was a member, on the 14th of the

* Dr. George E. Ellis ; Mr. Rufus Ellis, the Pastor of the Church, Dr.
Frothingham's successor, was prevented by illness from attending the service.

1870.] MEMOIR OF NATHANIEL L. FROTHINGHAM, D.D. 377

same month, commemorative addresses were made by the
President, the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, by the Rev. Dr.
Walker, and by the Rev. Dr. Lothrop. They are reported in
the Journal of the Society.

Among the literary tributes to Dr. Frothingham's genius,
the ablest and most adequate is that by Mr. Henry T. Tuck-
erman, which appeared not long since in the " New York
Tribune."

ADDRESS AT THE BURIAL OF DR. FROTHINGHAM.

It was a message of joy that brought to the friends of Dr.
Frothingham, on Monday last, the tidings of his release from
the darkness of the prison-house in which his latter years had
pined, with no hope of deliverance but that which the Angel
of Death brings to every captive at last.

To us, who had known him in the days of his strength and
the plenitude of his genius, he had died long since. We had
buried him in our hearts ; and what remained of him we felt
to be less truly he than the image in our memory and the
works he had given us. He had died to intellectual converse
while in the body he yet lived. But now that the body's death
has severed the last tie that bound him to this earthly sphere,
his image is restored to us with transfigured beauty. And
here, as we meet for the burial rite in the sanctuary of that
Church of which he was so long minister, we summon his idea
from its sanctuary in our minds, and represent to ourselves
what he was in character and action.

Born in this city in July, 1793 ; graduated at Harvard, a
classmate of Edward Everett, in 1811 ; for some time Tutor
of Rhetoric and Oratory in that University, — he was called
in 1815 to be the Pastor of this Church ; a post which he
occupied with mind and heart for thirty-five years, resigning
in 1850 the arduous trust. To the duties of that office he

378 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

gave the strength and marrow of his life, suffering no literary
avocation — though a lover of letters — to divert his thoughts
or disengage his affections from the work of the ministry ;
subordinating all other tastes and pursuits to that supreme
call.

As a preacher, he could hardly be said to be popular.
Excessive refinement, want of rapport with the common
mind, precluded those homely applications of practical truth
which take the multitude. Nor did he feel sufficient interest
in doctrinal theology to satisfy those who craved systematic
instruction in that line. His reputation, therefore, was less
extended than intense. The circle of his admirers was small ;
but those who composed it listened to him with enthusiastic
delight. When, occasionally, he preached to us students at the
University, from the pulpit of the College Chapel, there was no
one, I think, to whom we listened with attention more pro-
found ; and, for myself, I can say with richer intellectual
profit. The poetic beauty of his thought, the pointed aptness
of his illustrations, the truth and sweetness of the sentiment,
the singular and sometimes quaint selectness, with nothing
inflated or declamatory in it, of the language, won my heart,
and made him my favorite among the preachers of that day.
I will not mispraise him, when dead, whom living I could not
flatter. I am well aware, and was even then aware, that the
preaching of our friend did not satisfy the class of minds to
which Channing in his way, and Walker and Ware and Lowell,
so ably ministered in theirs ; but preaching has other legiti-
mate and important functions beside those of unfolding the
philosophy of religion, or stimulating the moral sense. There
are " differences of gifts," and there are " diversities of
operations " ; but the same spirit goes with all earnest effort
in the service of truth, and is justified in all.

One service Dr. Frothingham has rendered to the Church
and the cause of religion, in which he is unsurpassed by
any preacher of his connection, — perhaps, I may say, by any

1870.J MEMOIR OF NATHANIEL L. FROTHINGHAM, D.D. 379

American preacher of his time. I speak of his hymns, which
will live, I believe, — I am sure they deserve to live, — as
long as any hymns in our collections. His musical tact, his
intimate knowledge of the exigences of vocalism, combining
with his poetic faculty, have added, in those hymns of his, to
devout aspiration and pure religious sentiment the perfection
of melody.

I name as examples in this kind the hymn : —

And this : —

" We meditate the day

Of triumph and of rest."

We bless thy Church high over all
The heathen's rage and scoff."

And where, among all the hymns in our language, is there
any thing finer in its way than parts of the hymn : —

" God ! whose presence glows in all " ?

this stanza, for instance : —

" Send down its angel to our side,
Send in its calm upon the breast ;
For we would know no other guide,
And we can need no other rest."

Thanks are due to the man, had he done nothing else, lor
these beautiful specimens of sacred poetry, these choice con-
tributions to the uses of worship. And for these, while
hymns are sung in our churches, the congregations will bless
his name.

As a scholar, he had in his profession no superior, — scarcely
a rival. A learned theologian, familiar with the Latin and
Greek classics, well versed in the modern languages and their
literatures, — in richness and extent of intellectual culture he
stood pre-eminent among his brethren. In their assemblings
and discussions, his word was waited for as sure to be the
most significant and luminous utterance of the hour.

An exquisite finish, a polished elegance of thought and
phrase, distinguished his performances, even the most trifling,

380 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept

and made them a study of good taste and good speech. In
familiar discourse, when most at his ease, the unstudied and
innate grace of his mind gave a peculiar and emphatic zest to
his conversation. Nothing awkward ever fell from his lips.
His words expressed with unerring fitness the thing most fit
to be expressed.

The name of poet is not to be lightly and indiscriminately
applied to makers of verses ; but I venture to call Dr. Froth-
ingham a poet in the strictest sense of the term. Not because
he wrote and published verses, but because he possessed the
lyrical mind ; or, more properly, the lyrical mind possessed
him. His impressions of things and occasions found in verse
their fittest and most natural utterance. The spontaneous
gush of his soul was song. His best thoughts took on a poeti-
cal form, and could vent themselves in no other way. His
exceeding modesty induced him to designate his two volumes
of printed poems by the title " Metrical Pieces ; " but if
I know any thing of poetry, those volumes contain many
genuinely poetic utterances, and such as the best-esteemed
poet in the land might be proud to own. His versions from
other tongues, and especially from the rich stores of German
song, are acknowledged by competent judges to be the most
successful attempts in that kind. A great poet has said that
the truest lyrical poetry is occasional poetry. A large portion
of Dr. Frothingham's original pieces are of that description, —
poems elicited by provocations of place and time and event.
I may mention, as examples of this sort, the National Ode on
the 203d Celebration of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery
Company, " The Crossed Swords " ; and that almost faultless
poem, " The Burial of John Eliot Thayer * : —

" No vulgar wealth, with amplest show,
Such funeral wreaths could twine.
It was not that he made it grow,
But that he hade it shine, —

1870.] MEMOIR OF NATHANIEL L. FROTHIXGHAM. D.D. 381

" Shine with such uses as have made
A glory where we lire ;
Shine with such charities as aid
Those who receive and give. 5 '

I have spoken briefly, as befits the hour, of our friend's
intellectual endowments and literary service ; but what of the
man ? We love to remember, and shall long remember,
the charm of his discourse, his wide culture, the sparkle of
his wit, the flowers of rhetoric and song with which he
adorned his path and gladdened ours ; but, met in the
solemn presence of death, we are reminded that the glories
of intellect and literary achievement

" Are shadows, not substantial things " ;

that the only and enduring thing in man is the moral type in
which his innermost being is expressed. What of the man ?

If I call upon you who knew him best — the companions
of his prime and the friends of his declining years — to render
your verdict in this case, I know you will gladly bear witness
with me that this was a man beloved of many, and most
worthy to be loved, for his own sake, and the beautiful and
endearing qualities which nearer acquaintance revealed in
him. But love, it is said, is partial ; it has no authorized
voice in the court which tries character, either as witness or
as judge. Love partial ? I think not. Love can be critical ;
it is naturally so from its very concern for the good of its
object. We see very clearly the faults of those we love, and
we love them none the less on account of those faults. But
then there are faults, and those of the worst kind, which
preclude love ; which alienate friendship, repel affection.
Inordinate selfishness, vanity, falsity, malignity, arrogance,
baseness of every sort, — these are qualities which no man
can love. These are qualities no friendship can abide, which
none can possess and continue to be loved. The fact, then,
that he of whom I speak was so endeared to a large circle of

382 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

attached friends, independently of all ties of kindred and
blood, — friends whose friendship strengthened with acquaint-
ance ; who cleaved to him when all charm had vanished from
his converse and all brilliancy had gone out of his life, — is a
proof of the absence in him of all such qualities as I have
named. But to speak positively of that which I found in him,
I have to say that our friend, as I judged him, was truthful
and sincere; gentle, generous, and kindly affectioned; humane,
free from all arrogance or self-conceit ; that his was the
charity that " envieth not," that " vaunteth not itself," that
" is not puffed up," that " thinketh no evil."

What especially impressed me in my long and close obser-
vation of the man, and what I consider to be a decisive test of
character, was his prompt and generous recognition of talent,
faculty, or merit in others ; particularly in those of his own
profession, competitors with him in a common career ; the
absence of any thing approaching to jealousy or bitterness,
when the prize of popularity, denied to him, was freely bestowed
on his inferiors. His eye was quick to discern, and his heart
was prompt to appreciate, and his tongue to acknowledge, what
was excellent in every performance, or the promise of excel-
lence yet to come. He welcomed the rising talent of his
juniors in office ; he was even willing to believe in it where
there was none. I am indebted to him for the best encour-
agement I received in my youth. Meanwhile, he never
quarrelled with the want of appreciation of his own deserts ;
I think he underrated those deserts in his judgment of him-
self. He whom I was ready to place first was quite content
to take the lower room.

Yery little there was in him of wrath or ill-will, and that
little very transient. At a time when the lines of ecclesiastical
separation and sectarian exclusion were more distinctly and
unrelentingly drawn than now, he could put himself in friendly
relations with the ministers of other connections than his own.
And if, in times of bitter controversy within the lines of his

1870.1 MEMOIR OF NATHANIEL L. FROTHINGHAM, D.D.

183

own denomination, he sometimes misjudged and burned with
indignation against those whom he believed to be enemies of
truth and religion, — enemies dangerous to social order, — in
cooler moments he regretted with sorrow unfeigned every
harsh and hasty word or act, and the severing of old bonds,
and alienation and strife ; and desired, as he assured me, to
forget all differences, to recover past fellowship, and to be at
peace with all the world.

The crowning grace of his life was the brave and invincible
patience with which he bore the multiplied infirmities of his
declining years.

There befell him in those years the affliction which is justly
reckoned among the greatest of physical calamities, — the
loss of sight. Loss of sight to a scholar with a well-stored
library, the habit of whose life has been to rove among his
books, and to turn at any moment to the passage needed for
solace or refreshment ; for the verification of a fact, for the
resolution of a doubt ; or help in the perplexity of thought,
where the right word at the right moment may roll the burden
of hours from the mind ! Loss of sight to a widowed man,
bereft of the one companion who best could lend her guiding
hand to his dark steps, and best supply the lack of eyes at all
times and in every place ! Loss of sight to a sensitive man,
accustomed to self-help, and nobly impatient of foreign aid !
Loss of sight to a lover of nature, to whom the green of earth
and the blue sky, and sunset and sunrise and the stars, are
the heart's daily bread ! Friends, have you ever figured to
yourselves what that means, — to be a prisoner with open
doors ; a captive to your own impotence, walled in by per-
petual darkness : to know no difference between day and
night ; to catch no eye responsive to your own, the light of
no smile in the face of your beloved ; to miss for ever the
glories of earth and sky, the familiar aspects of every-day life,
and all the dear consuetudes of vision ?

384 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

" Oh ! dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,
Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse
Without all hope of day !

To live a life half dead, a living death."

All this our friend was called to bear, and bore with a
fortitude that never flinched, and a resignation that never
murmured.

I visited him a short time before the waning light in his
eyes had gone out in total blindness. He told me that he had
just signed his name, as he supposed, for the last time. I
spoke of the interior resources at his command, of the rich
treasures of knowledge which he would take with him into the
impending night, and which no night could take from him.
His reply was : "I am afraid I am a poor creature ; but
I hope I shall not misbehave." The friends who came to him
in his darkness will bear witness how well the resolution that
lay in this modest hope was kept. How keenly he felt the
great privation, and also what solace and trust attended it, is
shown in some of his later poems. The " Bartimaeus " — the
finest, I think, of all his compositions — derives an exquisite
pathos from the author's personal experience : —

" Yes, happy, — cleave we to the hope,
Though feet must swerve and hands must grope ;
All action played behind a screen,
The world no space and life no scene ;
Though nature, art, street, fields, and books,
And better, best, all friendly looks,
Have faded into nought ; the gaze
That spans a world and threads a maze,
And, when the round of day is done,
Outshoots the arrows of the sun,
Changed for the thin, short line that slips
Beneath the moving finger-tips.

Nor all concealed from human thought
How this celestial work is wrought
They who see not have eyes that lend
Their aid to guide and to defend.

1870.] • MEMOIR OF NATHANTEL L. FROTHINGHAM, D.D. 385

Aye, numberless. They sit immured

In kindly offices ; secured

By their strong helplessness. Who stem

The boldest crowds make way for them.

Mark, on the pavement, how the click

Of their half-seeing, slender stick

Is potent as a sultan's word

Or marshal's staff or conqueror's sword.

Close tended by the good and kind,

They form the temper that they find.

Does not that disposition bless,

And good-will grow to happiness ?

The new beatitude will prove
The wonder of the Father-love,
That bids such compensation wait
On a calamity so great.

With narrowing range of earth's ado,
The field of strife is narrowed too ;
The tents are struck, the flags are furled,
That make a camp of half the world ;
As feuds and provocations close,
The unchallenged spirit tastes repose."

Some years of that " repose " were vouchsafed to him when
the blindness was complete ; some peaceful years of inward
light in the body's darkness ; some fruitful years of prolonged
intellectual youth in his " age's lateness." A mind so cultured
and productive could not rest or fall asleep while enough of
bodily strength remained to nourish mental action. The spirit
was willing ; the flesh was constrained to execute its will.
He continued to compose by dictation when the eye could no
longer guide the pen ; fortunate in finding a well-cultured and
competent amanuensis, who was literary coadjutrix, friend,
and nurse, in one. Some of his best versions from the Ger-
man were, if I mistake not, accomplished during this period.
The friends who visited him found him uniformly cheerful,
of good courage, with mind still girt and bow still bent,
responsive to the best with his own best, enjoying conver-
sation and bearing his part in it with scarcely perceptible
abatement of the ancient fire.

386 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Sept.

This until somewhat more than a year ago, when his
strength at last gave way ; and, in the utter prostration of
his frame, the mind refused to bring forth, the light flickered
in its socket, and " all the daughters of music were brought
low." From that time onward, bedridden, suffering at times
extreme pain, he sunk from weakness to weakness, and from
night to night, until the great night came whose morning is
not of this world, and the sleep whose waking is no more ;
as in these last years, into new darkness, but — so we trust
— into new and unending day.

And now, in bidding " Farewell ! " to what was mortal in
our friend, I feel how imperfectly I have voiced our impression
of the man. My consolation is that he speaks for himself more
forcibly than I could speak, had time been allowed to speak as
I would : speaks by his printed word ; speaks by his image
in the mind. He is henceforth set as a star in our heaven
of blessed memories ; a member of that trinal constellation,
of which Everett and Prescott are the brother-lights. The
orator, the historian, the poet, — beautiful in their combined
effulgence, — each vivid with his peculiar ray !

For the earthly, now vanished from our embrace, we have
no lament to make and no tears to shed. We will not pretend
to mourn the going of one from whom what was best had
already gone. Rejoice with me in his blessed release from
darkness and bondage and pain ! In his own fit words,
spoken at the funeral service in memory of Lafayette : " We
come not to mourn that he died, but to thank God that he
has lived."

Mr. Deane communicated from our Corresponding Member,
tke Hon. H. B. Grigsby, of Virginia, a photographic copy,
four and a half inches in diameter, of the seal of Virginia
during one period of its colonial history. One side represents
the person of the king standing, with the sceptre in his right
hand, receiving with his left hand, from a kneeling Indian,

1870.] SEAL OF THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 387

some leaves of tobacco. Beneath is, " en • dat • Virginia •
quartam • " ; and encircling the two figures, is the following :

" SIGILLUM * PROVINCE * NOSTRA ■ VIRGINIAS ■ IN ' AMERICA * " On

the other side is represented the arms of England with the
usual mottoes, encircled with the following : " georgius hi •

D * G ' MAG • BRI * IR " ET " HIB ■ REX * D * G * MAG ■ F * D " BRUN * ET *

lun • dux • s • r • i • ar • thes ■ et • el ■ " Concerning this seal
Mr. Grigsby writes : —

" Of course there was a change in the name of the sovereign
given on the seal with every new sovereign. Remember, it is
not the seal of the colony as such, but that of the king, who
applies it by the hand of his viceroy, the governor. The
colony proper, though it had a coat of arms, which the House
of Burgesses always impressed upon the journals of its pro-
ceedings, as appears from copies now before me, never en-
graved the arms in the form of a seal, as the body never
required a seal, — the office of a seal being executive and not
legislative. This distinction is worth attending to ; for it is
plain that none other than the immediate representative of the
king would be authorized to use his seal."

388 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

OCTOBER MEETING.

A stated meeting was held on Thursday, 13th October, at
eleven o'clock, a.m. ; the President in the chair.

The Recording Secretary read the record of the preceding
meeting.

The Librarian read his list of donors to the Library for the
past month.

The President presented, in the name of our associate, Mr.
W. S. Appleton, a copy of a recently printed volume, entitled
" Ancestry of Priscilla Baker," <fcc, compiled by the donor.

A portrait of the late Bishop Griswold, in cabinet size, was
presented by another member, Mr. W. H. Whitmore.

Through our associate, Professor Wyman, recently returned
from Europe, Mr. A. W. Franks, F.A.S., presented a number
of pamphlets issued by the Society of Antiquaries of London,
for which thanks were returned.

The President referred to the presence of Professor Wash-
burn, who had lately returned from abroad, and who, during
his absence, had been elected a Yice-President of the Society ;
and expressed the hope that the members might hear from
him some account of his visit.

Professor Washburn responded, thanking the Society for
the honor done him, giving also briefly the result of some of
his observations in Europe. In speaking of his visit to Cam-
bridge, England, he gave the following description of a carica-
ture which he saw there at the Bull Inn : —

At the Bull Inn, Cambridge, England, in the entering hall, hangs,
among many others, a picture about eight by fifteen inches. It repre-
sents three persons. One of these stands partly kneeling under a
gallows with a rope around his neck. His head is shaved, and he is
covered all over with feathers. The man on his left wears a red coat,
striped breeches, shoes with buckles, and a broad-brimmed hat turned
up on one side, with a blue rosette. He holds the rope which is

1870.] ANECDOTE OF GOVERNOR BROOKS. 389

around the middle man's neck in one hand, and a club in the other.
The man at the left of the picture has on a blue coat, striped breeches,
shoes and buckles, a broad-brimmed hat turned up all around, and
" 45 " inscribed upon it in two places in chalk. He holds what looks
like a tea-kettle in his hand, from which he is pouring some liquid upon
the feathered man. This middle man has a very cross and downcast
look, while the other two seem to be enjoying the thing and laughing
heartily. Under the picture is printed, —

" A new method of Macaroni/ Making, as practised at Boston.

" For the custom house officers landing the tea,
They tarred him and feathered him just as you see,
And they drenched him so well both behind and before
That he begged for God's sake they would drench him no more.

" Printed for Carrington Bowling at his map and print warehouse, No. 60, in
St. Paul's Church Yard, London, published as the act directs, Oct. 12, 1771."

Mr. John C. Gray related the following anecdote of the
late Governor Brooks : —

In the year 1815 I travelled to Niagara in company with Governor
Brooks, then General Brooks, of Medford. He met one day with an
old friend and brother officer of the Revolution, and related in my
presence the following anecdote, to which, as may be supposed, I
listened with the greatest attention and interest.

Immediately after one of the battles of our Revolution (I think
" White Plains "), Washington was informed that the Massachusetts
regiment of which Brooks was major had fled from its post ; whereas it
had sustained itself most gallantly in the thickest of the fight, and was
one of the last to retreat. Washington mentioned on parade what he
had heard, and added that nothing could have grieved him more than
that a regiment on which he had relied of all others should have acted
so unworthily. Brooks immediately asked who could have given such

information. Some one quoted General as the author. " Sir/'

said Brooks, " if General or any one else told your Excel-
lency any thing of the kind, he is a " (adding a very strong epithet)
" liar." Some comment being made, Washington said, " No matter ; I
am not displeased to see a young officer sensitive on such an occasion."
After a pause, Washington added, " Let the regiment march to the ex-
treme left." " Your Excellency," said Brooks, " can march us nowhere
where we shall not go willingly, except it be out of danger."

The regiment took its position accordingly. In a short time the

390 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

officers were informed that the commande -in-chief was approaching.
Brooks rose and made his salute, with great stiffness, but in proper
form. Washington then said that he was most happy to learn that
he had been wholly misinformed, and that the regiment had behaved
with its well-known gallantry. He added that it should take its
former position, and that he trusted that the explanation would be
entirely satisfactory. To this the colonel at once assented. Wash-
ington then said, " Is this satisfactory to you, Major Brooks ? " — " Not
at all, sir." — " Why not ? " — " Your Excellency may recollect that the
charge was made in the most public manner. It would seem proper
that the explanation should be equally public." After a moment's
reflection, Washington said, " Will it be satisfactory in general orders?"
" Entirely so," said Brooks. General orders were issued accordingly,
and the whole matter settled in the most satisfactory way.

I afterwards heard General Brooks refer to some of the most impor-
tant incidents on another occasion; on which, however, he avoided
mentioning his own name and that of his regiment, and mentioned the
matter merely as an affair between Washington and an officer of the
army.

Mr. Ellis Ames remarked that, at a former meeting of
this Society, in some discussion in which several members
took part, it was incidentally questioned whether Copley, the
portrait painter, and father of Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst,
was engaged at all when in Boston in painting miniatures,
and said that the late Joseph W. Eevere, a son of Colonel Paul
Revere, informed him that this was the fact ; for that his
father, then a goldsmith, made cases for Copley for his minia-
tures. Mr. Ames then produced the day-book of Colonel Paul
Revere from and including January 3, 1761, down to the com-
mencement of the Revolutionary war, containing numerous
entries of charges against and credits to Mr. Copley, begin
ning January 7, 1763, the last entry but one being on Sept.
17, 1767. Thus, under date of Feb. 7, 1763, is the follow

ing: —

Mr. John Copley, Dr.

£ s.d.

To a gold case for a picture for Mr Nel — n . 3. 0.0
To one Ditto — weight 5 pennyweights. . . 2.14.8

1870.] EXTRACTS FROM COL. PAUL REVERE'S DAY-BOOK. 391

Under the date of Oct. 20, 1763 : —

Mr. John Copley, Dr.

& s.d.
To glass for a picture and setting it . . . . 0. 5.4

Under date of Feb. 18, 1765 : —

Mr. John Copley,

To a silver picture frame Mrs St gs . . 1. 0.0

To a gold Ditto Gr f. . . 3.0.0

So under date of Feb. 20, 1765 : —

Mr. John S. Copley, Dr.
To a gold setting for a picture — weight, 4

pennyweights 18 grains 1. 5.4

to the making 1. 8.0

to the glass 2.8

Under date of 26 Feb. 1765 : —

Mr. John Copley,

pwt gt

To a gold case for a picture W« 4. 8 Mrs

E gs 1. 3.6

To the making 1£ 8 — Glass $" 1.10.8

ok pwt gr

To one Ditto W.\ 0. 3. 18 1. 0.3

To making £1. 8 & Glass f 1.10.8

pwt

To one Ditto Wl 0. 4. 16 1. 5.8

To the making £1. 8 Glass § 1.10.8

To one silver ditto 1. 0.0

To one Ditto 1. 0.0

To 8 glasses 1. 1.4

Under date of Nov. 8, 1765 : —

Mr. John S. Copley,

To a gold picture frame 1. 8.0

To the making 1. 8.0

To the glass 0. 2.8

392

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

[Oct.

Mr. Deane exhibited a printed broadside containing the
names of the " Protesters " against the Solemn League and
Covenant ; and those of the " Addressers " to Governor Hutch-
inson before leaving the country in 1774. The paper belonged
to Mr. John K. Wiggin, of Boston, through whose kindness it
was allowed to be exhibited to the meeting, and to be printed
in the " Proceedings " : —

Whereas a great Number of People have express'd a Desire that the Names of the
Addressers to the late Gov. Hutchinson, and Protesters against the solemn League
and Covenant might be made Publick, the following is a true List of the same, Viz.

Those who Asteriz'd are not Natives of America.

Names.

Places op Business, &c. Occupations.

Joseph Green

South School Street

Merchant.

John Winslow

South End

Iron Dealer.

Isaac Winslow, jun.

King Street

Distiller.

Thomas Oliver

Cambridge

Farmer.

Henry Lloyde

Long Wharff

Merchant, & Contractor for the

Benjamin Davis

Town Dock

Huckster. (Troops.

Isaac Winslow

Roxbury

Farmer.

Lewis Deblois

Dock Square

Shopkeeper.

*Thomas Aylwin

Factor.

William Bowes

Dock Square

Brazier.

Gregory Townsend

Crown Officer.

Francis Green

King Street

Merchant.

Philip Dumaresque

Factor.

Harrison Gray

Treasurer. ! — !

Peter Johonnot

Distiller.

George Erving

King Street

Merchant.

John Vassal

Cambridge

Farmer.

Nathaniel Coffin

Deputy Cashier to the Board of Corn-

*John Timmins

Market Square

Merchant, (missioners.

William Taylor

King Street

Dealer in small Wares.

Thomas Brinley

Distiller.

Harrison Gray, jun.

A Clerk in the Treasurers Office.

John Taylor

Cornhill

Shopkeeper.

Gilbert Deblois

ditto

Ditto.

Joshua Winslow

King Street

Merchant.

Daniel Hubbard

Green's Wharf

ditto.

*Hugh Tarbet

Rope-maker.

Henry Leddle

Uncertain.

Nathaniel Cary

Town Dock

Merchant.

George Brinley

Ditto.

Richard Lechmere

Distiller.

John Erving, jun.

Kilby Street

Merchant.

Thomas Gray

ditto

Ditto, and Agent for the Transports.

George Bethune

King Street

Ditto.

Thomas Apthorp

Crown Officer.

1870.] A LIST OF " PROTESTERS" AND "ADDRESSERS,

393

Ezekiel Goldthwait
Benjamin Gridley
*John Atkinson
Ebenezer Bridgham
John Gore
Adino Paddock
Daniel Silsby
"William Cazneau

* James Forrest
*Edward Cox
*John Berry
*Richard Hiron
Ziphion Thayer
John Joy
Joseph Goldthwait
Samuel Prince
Jonathan Simpson
*James Boutineau
Nathaniel Hatch
Martin Gay
Joseph Scott
Samuel Minot
Benjamin M. Holmes
*Archibal McNeil
George Leonard
John Borland
Joshua Loring, jun.
William Jackson

* James Anderson
*David Mitchelson
Abraham Savage
*James Asby
*John Inman
John Coffin
*Thomas Knight
Benjamin Greene, jun.
David Greene
Benjamin Greene
Henry H. Williams
*James Warden
Nathaniel Coffin, jun.
Silvester Gardner
John S. Copley
Edward Foster
Colbourn Barrell
Nathaniel Greenwood

* William Burton
*W T illiam Blair
*James Selkrig
♦Archibald Willson
Jeremiah Green
Samuel H. Sparhawk

King Street
ditto

Queen Street
Long Acre
Market Square
Dock Square
King Street
ditto
ditto

Cornhill
School Street

King Street
Dock Square

Dorchester
Union Street
ditto

Fore Street
Back Street
Marlborough Street

Cambridge
Dorchester
Corn hill
Merchants Row

King Street
Green's Wharf
South End
Cornhill
Green's "Wharf
ditto
ditto

Noddles Island
Green's Wharf
Kilby Street
Marlborough Street

Bridges Lane

Town Dock
Treat's Wharf
Town Dock
ditto

Purchase Street
Kittery

and Clerk of the
(Inferior Court! !

of Crockery
(Ware.

County Register

Pettifogger.

Merchant.

A Retailing Factor

Painter.

Chaise-Maker.

Shopkeeper.

Ditto.

A late Ship Surgeon.

Upholsterer.

Carpenter.

Crown-Officer.

Merchant.

Ditto.

Formerly a Merchant.

One of the Clerks of the Superior

Copper Smith. (Cov-t.

Brazier.

Goldsmith.

Distiller.

Baker to the Army.

Miller.

Gentlemen.

Unknown.

Shopkeeper.

Factor.

Lapidary.

Collector of Taxes ! ! !

Watch Cleaner.

Clerk to John Rowe,Esq; ! !

Distiller.

Toy-seller.

Merchant.

Ditto.

Farmer.

Merchant.

Factor and Son to

Apothecary.

Portrait Painter.

Blacksmith.

Merchant and Sandemanian Preach-

Mast Maker. (er.

Merchant.

Unknown.

Factor.

ditto.

Tallow Chandler.

NOTHING.

the Deputy
(Cashier.

394

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

[Oct.

Joseph Turell
*Roberts and Lee
*John Greenlaw
Benjamin Clarke
*William McAlpine
Jonathan Snelling

* James Hall
*William Dickson
John Winslow, jun.
Theophilus Lillie
Miles Whitworth
*James McEwen
William Codner
James Perkins
John White
Robert Jarvis

* William Perry

* James & Patrick McMasters King Street

Cornhill
South End
Cornhill

Marlborough Street
Treat's Wharf

Town Dock
Long Wharf
North End
Wing's Lane

Merchants Row
Boston
Fort Hill

William Coffin
Simeon Stoddard, jun.
John Powell
*Henry Laughton
Eliphalet Pond
M. B. Goldthwait
Peter Hughes
*John Semple
Hopestill Capen
Edward King
Byfield Lyde
George Lyde
A. F. Phillips
Rufus Green
David Phips
*Richard Smith
George Spooner
Samuel Hughes

South End.

King Street
Cornhill
Dedham
Middle Street
King Street
Cornhill
Union Street
Fort Hill

Casco Bay

South End
Cambridge
King Street
Treat's Wharf
King Street

Clerk of the Inferior Court, a relation
Jewellers. (to Hutchinson.

A Seotch Shopkeeper.
Brazier.
Book-Binder.
Factor.

Mariner who brought the first Cargo
Factor. (of Tea

Merchant.
Shopkeeper.
Surgeon.

Mariner in George Bethune's Em-
Clerk to William Bowes. (ploy.
Merchant.

Mariner, keeps Shop in Union
Mariner and Wine-seller. (Street
Unknown.
Shopkeepers.

Distiller, and Father to the Deputy
NOTHING. (Cashier.

Merchant.
Shopkeeper.
Farmer.

Apothecary of little NOTE.
Merchant.
Scotch Shopkeeper.
Carpenter, lately a Shopkeeper.
Wharfinger.
POWDER MONKEY.
Custom-House Officer.
NOTHING.
Shopkeeper.
Sheriff.
Merchant,
ditto.
Clerk to Peter Hughes

N. B. As the Occupation and Places of Business of some of the Persons in the above curious
List are utterly unknown to the Editor, it is desired that, any Person or Persons who can give
Intelligence thereof, would send it to the British Coffe-House, inclosed in a Letter directed to the
true American, and due Notice will be shown to them in the next Edition

Merchants 27

Traders 36

Others _60

Total 123

Protesters.

Harrison Gray Francis Green Benjamin Gridley

Joseph Green Nathaniel Coffin Benjamin Clarke

George Erving Ezekiel Goldthwait William Taylor

John Vassel Silvester Gardner Gilbert Deblois

John Timmins Byfield Lyde John Taylor

1870.]

COMMUNICATION BY JUDGE METCALF.

395

Benjamin Davis
Benjamin Greene
Stephen Greenleaf
Isaac Winslow
Bichard Lechmere
Joshua Winslow
Daniel Hubbard
John Erving, jun.
James Perkins
Isaac Winslow, jun.
Richard Smith
John Atkinson
Nathaniel Cary
Samuel H. Sparhawk
Edward Foster
Edward Cox
Thomas Aylwin
Ebenezer Bridgham
John J arris
George Spooner
William Blair
Harrison Gray, jun.
James Anderson
Phillip Demaresque
John Cotton
George Brindley
Thomas Brindley
John Coffin
Colborn Barrel]
James Forest
William Apthorp
John Gore
Adino Paddock
John Joy
Joseph Scott
A. F. Phillips
Samuel Rogers
Joseph Green

Jonathan Simpson
George Bethune
Refus Green
William Coffin
Jeremiah Green
James Boutineau
Thomas Gray
Henry Lloyd
Samuel Fitch
William Coffin, 3d.
Joseph Taylor
Archibald McNeil
Robert Jarvis
James Hall
John Berry
Hugh Tarbet
Abraham Ellison
Patrick McMaster
Joseph Wilson
Frederick Roberts
John Agling
Benja. M. Holmes
Henry Leddel
Jonathan Snelling
Theophelus Lillie
John Semple
William Dickson
Henry Laughton
John Greenlaw
John Winslow, jun.
Edward Stow
John White
Nathaniel Hurd
William Cazneau
Martin Gay
John Haskins
William Jackson
William M' Alpine

Sold in Queen-Street.

Benj. Green, jun
Thomas Knight
William Bowes
Peter Johonet
George Leonard
Thomas Apthorp
James Selkrig
David Green
Lewis Deblois
James Asby
John Inman
Richard Sherwin
Andrew Barclay
William Knutten
William Perry
David Mitchelson
Richard Hirons
Nath. Coffin, jun.
Samuel Minot
Archibald Wilson
Hawes Hatch
William Codner
Edward King
William Burton
Hopestil Capen
Greg. Townsend
Ziphion Thayer
Henry Lee
Peter Hughes
Samuel Hughes
Benjamin Phillips
Nath. Greenwood
John Burroughs, jun.
George Lush
William Hunter
Samuel Greenwood
William Hutchins

Judge Metcalf made the following communication : —

In the Journal of the House of Representatives of the Province
of Massachusetts are the following entries: "April 9th, 1731.
Whereas there are several expressions contained in a sermon (now
in print) said to be preached at Southborough, the 21st of October
last, by the Reverend Mr. John Greenwood, pastor of the Church at
Rehoboth. at the ordination of the Reverend Nathan Stone, pastor of
the Church in said Southborough, which the House apprehend may

396 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

have a tendency to subvert the good order of the churches and towns
within the Province, — Voted, that Mr. Cooke, Mr. Welles, Mr. Lynde,
Captain Goddard, and Mr. Lewis, with such as the Honorable Board
shall appoint, be a Committee to consider what may be proper for this
Court to do thereon, and make report as soon as may be."

"April 14th, 1731. Ordered that Mr. Wolcot go up with a mes-
sage to the Honorable Board, to inquire whether they have passed
on the vote of the House on the 9th instant, referring to Mr. Green-
wood's sermon, — who returned he had delivered the message and was
informed by Mr. Secretary that the Board Non-concurred the said
vote."

The sermon of Mr. Greenwood is not in the library of this Society,
nor in that of the Boston Athenaeum, but is in the City Library. On
examination of that sermon, it will be found to contain strong " ex-
pressions " of the authority of clergymen as " rulers " of the church,
and the members (" the fraternity," as he calls them) as " subjects,"
who have no right to decide who shall be admitted to the church, or
be excommunicated, or be affected by other discipline ; but that all is
exclusively under the authority of the " ruler." This, probably, was
what was deemed by the House of Representatives to have the " ten-
dency " alleged by them, and to render it " proper to do " something
" thereon."

If mention of the aforesaid vote of the House of Representatives is
made in any historical or other publication, it has escaped my sight.

Though, by a colony ordinance, " No injunction shall be put upon
any church, in point of doctrine, discipline, or worship," — yet the prac-
tice was for the magistrates to interpose for the preservation of uni-
formity and peace in the church.

Mr. Deane made the following communication respecting an
original manuscript of Governor Bradford, of Plymouth, in the
Library of this Society : —

Governor Bradford's Dialogue between Old Men and Young Men,
concerning " The Church and the Government thereof."

The author of this Dialogue was William Bradford, for
many years governor of the colony of New-Plymouth, and
author of the History of Plymouth Plantation, published for
the first time, by the Massachusetts Historical Society, in

1870,] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 397

1856. The original manuscript, written in the beautiful hand
of Governor Bradford, in a small volume, five inches by three
in size, of about one hundred and fifty pages, is in the Library
of the Historical Society.

This, it will be seen, is styled the " third conference."
The first Dialogue, or Conference, was held or written in
1648, and relates chiefly to the views of the Separatists ; and
gives a most interesting and valuable sketch of those who
were early and prominently engaged in the religious move-
ment which marked the rise of that sect, with many of whom
Bradford was personally acquainted. A few leaves only of the
original manuscript of the first conference are extant, and
these are in the Library of the Historical Society. The whole,
however, was copied by Secretary Morton into the records of
the Plymouth Church, and was printed for the first time by
Dr. Young, in his Chronicles of the Pilgrims, in 1841. In a
note at the conclusion of the Dialogue, Dr. Young says, " Brad-
ford continued this Dialogue in two other parts ; one of which
I have had in my possession, written with his own hand.
The title is as follows : ' A Dialogue or 3d Conference,' "
&c, citing in full the title of the volume before us. As to
the second conference, I have never seen it, nor any reference
to it.

This Third Conference, as will be seen by the title, relates
to " The Church and the Government thereof." The date,
" 1652," on the first leaf of the book, probably indicates the
year in which it was written. Though this must be regarded
as mainly an ecclesiastical discussion, it cannot be wholly
devoid of interest and value in 'an historical point of view.
Correct opinions on this subject were considered as of the first
importance by our Pilgrim ancestors ; and a knowledge of
what one, with the experience, position, and character of Gov-
ernor Bradford, thought and felt concerning the religious sects
of his own day, will not be regarded with indifference by
any student of our early history. Bradford was sweet-tern-

398 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

pered and heavenly-minded in his youth. Forming his
religious opinions at an early age, the sincerity of his con-
victions was soon put to the test. The singular purity of
his character received its seal in the ordeal of persecution
through which he passed. He well knew what it meant to
be compelled to leave his native land and the associations
there dear to him, that he might worship God according to
the dictates of his conscience. A firm opponent of all religious
hierarchies and spiritual domination, he belonged to that sect
of Christians sometimes nicknamed " Brownists," which had
wholly separated from the Church of England. Brought up
under the teachings of the famous Robinson (who, though a
rigid Separatist at first, so far modified his views as to admit
that good men might be found in all the reformed commun-
ions), Bradford became a man of large and generous views,
singularly forgiving, and tolerant in his judgment of others.
In treating of the Papists, his language may seem severe : he
has no qualifying words ; but probably his estimate of that
stupendous hierarchy would not differ materially from that of
the great body of Protestants to-day throughout the world, —
and he cites abundant authority for his historical statements.

Congregationalism was the central thought which animated
the minds of the Pilgrims, and around which clustered their
hopes of securing a pure faith and worship. Firm in his convic-
tions »f the validity of that form of church government, Brad-
ford ably defends it throughout this little treatise, as agreeing
alike with the Word of God, and with the examples of the first
Christians. The Protestant doctrine of the Sufficiency of the
Scriptures is laid down at the beginning of the Dialogue, as a
starting point in the discussion.

Under the head of " The Independent or Congregational
way," in which body Bradford would include his own com-
munion (though the name " Independent," he says, was put
upon them by way of reproach), it is worthy of notice that,

1870.] ■ GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 399

for his proofs and illustrations, he draws largely from a work
of John Cotton, published in 1648. This shows how fully at
this time the religious opinions of the founders of the Massa-
chusetts Colony, composed chiefly of Puritans within the
Church of England who never would admit that they had left
her communion, harmonized with those of the Separatists of
Plymouth.

Bradford seems not to have been unmindful of the influence
of his own colony in moulding the ecclesiastical constitution of
the neighboring settlement. The good Plymouth physician,
Deacon Samuel Fuller, had more than once been called pro-
fessionally to administer to the necessities of the Massachu-
setts colonists in times of sickness ; and on such occasions
the opportunities for conferences on higher themes were not
lost. He was in Charlestown in the summer of 1630, soon
after the arrival there of Winthrop and his company ; and in
one of his letters to Governor Bradford from that place, dated
June 28th, he says : " I have been at Mattapan, at the request
of Mr. Warham, and let some twenty of those people blood ; I
had conference with them till I was weary. Mr. Warham
holds that the visible church may consist of a mixed people, —
godly, and openly ungodly, — upon which point we had all our
conference, to which I trust the Lord will give a blessing.
Here is come over with these gentlemen one Mr. Phillips (a
Suffolk man), who hath told me in private, that if they will
have him stand minister by that calling which he received
from the prelates in England, he will leave them. The gov-
ernor is a godly, wise, and humble gentleman, and very dis-
creet, and of a fine and good temper. We have some privy
enemies in the Bay, but, blessed be God, more friends. The
governor hath had conference with me, both in private and
before sundry others. Opposers, there is not wanting, and
Satan is busy ; but if the Lord be on our side, who can be
against us ? The governor hath told me he hoped we will not

400 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

be wanting in helping them, so I think you will be sent for.
Here is a gentleman, one Mr. Cottington, a Boston man, who
told me that Mr. Cotton's charge at Hampton was, that they
should take advice of them at Plymouth, and should do noth-
ing to offend them. Captain Endicott (my dear friend, and
a friend to us all) is a second Barrow." * Endicott's sym-
pathy in Fuller's views had been secured the preceding year
at Salem.f This letter shows the anxiety which existed in the
minds of the Plymouth people respecting the then pending
question of the ecclesiastical constitution of the new colony. $
In another letter from Fuller to Bradford, dated at Charles-
town, August 2d, the writer mentions the entering into church
covenant there of some of the principal persons of the settle-
ment, according to the Congregational method. After citing
this last letter in his History, Bradford concludes : " Thus out
of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His
hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all
things that are ; and as one small candle may light a thousand,
so the light here § kindled hath shone to many ; yea, in some
sort, to our whole nation. Let the glorious name of Jehovah
have all the praise ! " || I

The original manuscript of this Dialogue, as I have
said, is in the Library of the Historical Society. From a
memorandum on one of the leaves at the beginning of the
volume, made in 1826, it appears to have been " found among

* See I. Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. 74, 75.

f See Bradford's History, pp. 264, 265.

J See Palfrey's History of New England, i. 316, 317.

§ Prince, i. 250, cites this passage from Bradford's MS. History, and says: " Gov.
Bradford adding this immediately after the article [letter] of Aug. 2, it seems uncertain
whether hy here he meant Plymouth or Boston Church; though I am apt to think the
latter." The following manuscript note, hy Judge Davis, is written in the margin of his
awn copy of Morton's Memorial (penes me) against this citation: "I doubt the correct-
ness of Mr. Prince's conjecture in reference to the meaning of Gov. Bradford's language
in this instance. For many reasons, which might be suggested, it would appear proba-
ble, that by ' here,' Gov. B., always a stanch Plymothean, had reference to Plymouth."

II Bradford's History, p. 279.

1870.]

governor Bradford's dialogue. 401

some old papers taken from the remains of Rev. Mr. Prince's
collection, belonging to the Old South Church in Boston, and
by consent deposited in Library of Massachusetts Historical
Society." It was not in the list of books and manuscripts
deposited by the pastors and deacons of the Old South Church
in 1814, — subsequently reclaimed, — and may have been
placed in the Library at the date of the memorandum above
cited.

A few years ago, the manuscript was copied with a view
of publishing it in a volume of the " Collections " ; but other
matter was substituted for it. Subsequently, the Society, at
my request, granted me the privilege of printing it " privately,"
at my own charge.* Other engagements delayed the printing
of it, agreeably to this proposal ; and its publication in the
" Proceedings " has now been advised as a substitute for my
plan, and with my entire concurrence.

Some leaves placed at the beginning and the end of this
little volume furnish additional evidence of Bradford's interest
in the Hebrew and Greek languages. It will be remembered
that Cotton Mather says of him that, " Notwithstanding the
difficulties through which he passed in his youth, he attained
unto a notable skill in languages ; the Dutch tongue was
become almost as vernacular to him as the English ; the
French tongue he could manage ; the Latin and Greek he had
mastered ; but the Hebrew he most of all studied, because, he
said, he would see with his own eyes the ancient oracles of
God in their native beauty." Between the same covers which
include the precious original manuscript History of Plymouth
Plantation are some eight pages of Hebrew roots with Eng-
lish explanations, in Bradford's hand, to which he has prefixed
the following : —

* See "Proceedings," for January, 1863.
51

402 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

" Though I am growne aged, yet I have had a longing
desire to see, with my owne eyes, somthing of that most
ancient language, and holy tongue, in which the Law
and Oracles of God were write ; and in which God
and angels spake to the holy patriarks of old
time; and what names were given to things
from the creation. And though I canot
attaine to much herein, yet I am refresh-
ed to have seen some glipse hereof;
(as Moyses saw the land of Ca-
nan a farr of.) My aime and
desire is, to see how the words
and phrases lye in the
holy texte ; and to
discerne somewhat
of the same,
for my owne
contente."

Two pages at the beginning of this Dialogue contain both
the Hebrew and the Greek alphabet, in Bradford's hand,
expressed in the original characters, with the names also of
each letter spelled out in the Roman character, with some
additional illustration as to long and short vowels to aid in
pronunciation. Eight pages at the end (and possibly some
leaves may be wanting) contain passages from the Old Testa-
ment, in Hebrew, with the English translation written under-
neath, from the Genevan version.

To the late Joseph Hunter, F.S.A., an Assistant-Keeper of
the Public Records in London, New-England History is
indebted for much new matter relating to Bradford and his
associates, and the location of the Pilgrim church in England.
Since the publication of his little tract on the " Founders
of New-Plymouth," in 1849, the villages of Austerfield and
Scrooby have been regarded as almost sacred shrines by New-
England visitors to the fatherland. Dr. Palfrey refers, in his
History of New England (I. 134, 135), to a visit which he
made to these places in 1856.

1870.]. GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 403

Ten years later, under the auspices of letters from Lord
Houghton, whose family domains include Austerfield, Bawtry,
and Scrooby, in company with my friend, Mr. Samuel F. Haven,
of Worcester, I passed a delightful day in examining these
most interesting remains. We were fortunately the guests of
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lowther, of Bawtry Hall, who take a
deep interest in these Pilgrim memorials, and who afforded us
every facility in the examination of them. They earnestly
wish that a New-England school could be established at
Austerfield, the birthplace of Bradford, as an appropriate
tribute to the memory of the Plymouth Governor. What
more fitting memorial could his descendants erect to his
honor than a Grammar School, on the New-England model,
in the village of his birth ?

The visitor looks with interest on the little church or
" chapellerie," with its curious old side doorway of early Nor-
man date ; its oaken rail before the chancel, at which Bradford
received the waters of baptism, two hundred and eighty years
ago ; * and at the ancient " Register Booke," where we read,
" William sone of Willm Bradfourth baptized the XIX th day of
March Anno dm, 1589."

Mr. Hunter has shown, from various documents, that the
family of Bradford was, at this time, among the most respect-
able in that part of the country. " One thing is clear," he
says : " that the Brad fords of Austerfield, during the eigh-
teen years that he who was afterwards the governor of
New Plymouth was living with them, associated with the
best of the very slender population by whom they were sur-
rounded." f

In the village of Scrooby, near by, a farm house of curious
construction is pointed out as the probable residence of Brew-
ster, and the place where were held the meetings of the Sepa-
ratists of that neighborhood, including the youthful Bradford,

* See Palfrey's History of New England, I. 134, note.

t Collections concerning the Early History of the Founders of New Plymouth, p. 49.

404 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

before their escape into Holland. It may have been originally
connected with the manor-house, which has long since passed
away.

Descriptions of Austerfield and Scrooby, in connection with
Pilgrim history, have been made within a few years, from per-
sonal observation, by W. H. Bartlett, in " The Pilgrim Fathers,
or, The Founders of New England," London, 1853 ; by Dr.
Palfrey in his " History of New England," Boston, 1858 ; and
by the Rev. John Raine, vicar of Blyth, in " The History and
Antiquities of the Parish of Blyth," London, 1860.

I have fancied that there were many points of resemblance
between the character of Bradford, the leading man in the
Plymouth colony, and that of his friend Winthrop, the leading
man of the Massachusetts colony. Certainly there was much
in common in their public career, and in the estimation in
which they were held by their contemporaries. Perhaps
Bradford's popularity in Plymouth was even more firmly
grounded than that of Winthrop in Massachusetts. From
1621 to 1657, the year of his death, he had but five years'
release from the office of Chief Magistrate. That is to say, of
the thirty-seven years of his residence in the colony, he was
its governor thirty years. He had no desire for the office
except so far as it afforded him an opportunity for serving the
colony. Up to 1624 he had had but one Assistant. At the
beginning of that year he records : —

" The time of the new election of their officers for this year being
come, and the number of their people increased, and their troubles and
occasions therewith, the Governor desired them to change the persons,
as well as renew the election ; and also to add more Assistants to the
Governor for help and counsel, and the better carrying on of affairs.
Showing that it was necessary it should be so. If it was any honour
or benefit, it was fit others should be made partakers of it ; if it was a
burden (as doubtless it was), it was but equal others should help to
bear it ; and that this was the end * of annual elections. The issue

* That is, the purpose or object.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 405

was, that as before there was but one Assistant, they now chose five,
giving the Governor a double voice; and afterwards they increased
them to seven, which course hath continued to this day."

Bradford, however, was not suffered to retire, but was con-
tinued governor by annual election till 1633; when, as Win-
throp says, " by importunity lie gat off," and Edward Winslow *
was elected for that year, f

Bradford was not only the historian of the colony, but his
pen was constantly employed in conducting the correspondence,
in keeping for many years the public records, and in other offi-
cial duties. If the original manuscript of the compact signed
on board the Mayflower on the 11th (21st N.s.) of Novem-
ber should ever come to light, we should expect to find it
in Bradford's hand. His penmanship is most beautiful, the
letters carefully formed, and the writing as easily read as the
printed page. Such is the little treatise from which we here
print, and such throughout is the condition of the manuscript
History of the colony, which I had the pleasure, through
the kindness of the Bishop of London, of examining in the
Fulham Library four years since. Bradford's chirography is
in singular contrast to that of Governor Winthrop, whose
manuscripts are as sealed books, to be deciphered only by the
initiated.

In preparing this Dialogue for the press, I have been careful
to preserve the original spelling of the author ; but I have
taken some liberty in the punctuation and in the use of capi-
tals.

* In regard to Edward Winslow, one of the most accomplished residents of the
Old Colony, and perhaps of New England, in his day, it should be remembered that his
commercial and diplomatic duties kept him in almost constant employment, and often
away from home. He visited England a number of times as well on service for the
Massachusetts Colony as for his own government; and from his visit of 1646 he never
returned to the colony. He died in 1655 in the service of the Protector. Winthrop
(II. 2S3) speaks "of his abilities of presence, speech, courage, and understanding."

t About this time a law was enacted, reciting that whoever refused to execute the
office of Governor after election, unless he had held the place the foregoing year, should
be amerced in twenty pounds sterling fine; and whoever refused the office of Assistant
should be fined ten pounds.

406 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

I may add that my desire to consult all the books used and
cited by Bradford as proofs and illustrations in writing this
treatise has not been gratified. Some of these I could not
find in any public or private library in this neighborhood. I
have referred, in a note on pages 409, 410, to one of them
which I consulted in the British Museum. I had hoped to
find, by the inventory of his estate, that the larger part of the
volumes had been in the possession of Bradford ; but having
had a list of the books there returned, and having also con-
sulted the inventory of Brewster's estate, I can say that but
few of the books are described in either. In Bradford's list
one item is rendered, " three and fifty small bookes," which
might have included some of those I was seeking.

Following this little " composure " on church government,
as here furnished, are two pieces of composition in verse by
the same author, one of which, " A Word to Plymouth," I
believe has never been printed. The other, entitled " Some
observations of God's merciful dealing with us in this Wil-
derness," &c, is now given entire for the first time. These
are preserved here, not on account of their poetical beauties,
— for to Bradford the Muses were not propitious, — but for
the historical intimations which they contain. A foot-note, on
pages 465, 466, will give the necessary information respecting
these " sundry useful verses " of the Plymouth governor.

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1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 407

A DIALOGUE

Or *3* Conference betweene some Tonge-men borne in New-England,
and some Ancient-men, which came out of Holand and Old Eng-
land, concerning the Church, and the Gouermente therof

YONGE-MEN.

Gentle-men, we hope you will pardon our bouldnes, in that we
haue importuned you to giue vs meeting once more in this kind, for
our instruction & establishmente in the truth.

We find that many and great are the controuersies which haue
risen in these later times, about the Church, and the Gouermente
thereof; and much trouble and disturbance hath growne in the world
therby, and doth still remaine to this day. That we may know, ther-
fore, how groundedly the better to setle our judgments and practtise
in so weighty a mater, we humbly craue your best judgment and
aduise. We conceiue this controuersie lyes chiefly amongest '4' sorts of
men. The Papists,

The Episcopacie,

The Presbiterians, and

The Independants, as they are caled.
And we doe entreat you, therfore, to speake some thing to these in
order, for our information; that we may the better discerne wher
the truth lyes, that we may be confirmed in the same, and the more
inabled to oppose the contrary.

ANCIENT-MEN.

We shall in the first place comend this necessarie consideration
vnto you, (which we desire you may carrie all along with you in this
whole controuersie) that the true church and the proper gouermente *
of the same, is to be knowne by the scriptures, and to be measured

* At the top of the page over this hue, in the original MS., Bradford had subse-
quently written: "In sacrosancta scriptura existat fundamentum ecclesiae dei." — Ed.

408 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

only by that rule, the primatiue paterne ; which church & the
gouermente of the same is sufficiently described and layed down in
the writings of the apostles and euangelists. For which, take the
testimonie of that reuerend-man, M r Jeuell.* Christ and his apostles
" (saith he) appointed the church in their time in such sorte as no
" beter could be deuised ; let vs therfore (saith he) compare the church
" of the later time, with the originall ; as we vse in trying of measures,
" by the standard ; for if ther be any fait, the standerd will bewray it.
2 r ? Remember that Christ is the only king and lawgiuer of the
church ; which is his house and kingdom. Extra bibliam non est
Veritas infallibilis.

YONG-MEN.

Are ther any to be found, that are so impudent to denye these
things ? It is not meete that any should vsurpe vpon the Lord's royall
dignitie and prerogatiue, and impose their owne word & law instead
of his.

ANCIENT MEN.

They ought not indeede to be thus presumptuous (as you well say),
but you will find it otherwise.

For the Papists hold, and bouldly affirme, that the church is not
known by the word of God ; but the word of God is knowne by the
church. And vpon this ground it was that in the Councill of Basell
the Cardinall Cusanus (the pops legate) maintained that the church
is not knowne by the gospell, but the gospell by the church.

YOUNG MEN.

How doe they describ this church, & what power & authority doe
they giue thereto ?

ANCIENT-MEN.

They calle it the Roman- Catholick- Church, and say it is the only
true church, out of which ther is no saluation. And that it is an vni-
versall, visible-church, ouer whom the pope is visible head and Christs
vickar. And that this Romane church is mother and mistres of all
churches ; and (by the Lord's ordinance) hath principality of orde-
nary power aboue all others, as being the mother and mistres of all
Christian belieuers. And (say they) as Peter was the prince of the
apostls, and head (and rock) of the church, to whom the keyes of the

* John Jewell, Bishop of Salisbury, born 1522, died 1571 ; a learned prelate and most
voluminous writer. — Ed.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE, 409

kingdom of heauen were giuen, (the rest of the apostls being (say
they) as it were but legats, and in subordination vnder him), so the
pope is the head of this church, (as Peter's succesor) ; to whom
power is giuen ouer all Christian princes, and all their people, as
being Christs vicar ouer all peopell, and the vniuersall church of
Christ. See Triple-Cord, Fol : 181- & -211-

2 ly . They hold that this church cannot erre in those things which
are necesary to saluation ; and he that shall not follow her authority
in faith & maners is as if he had denyed God and is worse than an
Infidele. N See Triple-Cord, fol : 62-

S ly . This church (viz. the pope and his councell) must define what
the word of God is, & what they haue defined & determined herein
you shall see at large in the councell of Trent, wher they make the
Apocriphall bookes authentike, and of equall athority with the can-
nonicall Scriptures, of Moyses, the prophits and apostls. Also, vn-
writen traditions they make equall with the word written ; for so
saith the aforesaid author, fol : 153* The pope and councell of Trente
(saith he) receiueth and reueren[c]eth with like pietie the word
writen and vnwriten, viz. traditions.

40* And yet this is not all, for they hold it belongeth to this church
only to judg of the true sence & interpretation of the holy scriptures ;
vpon which they hold and affirme that the pope hath power to inter-
pret^ declare, and lay forth, the holy scriptures, after his owne will ; and
to suffer no man to expound it otherwise. & by the church (saith the
former author) we vnderstand the (pope) the supreme pastor thereof,
with a councell of other bishops & doctors ; and whatsoeuer they
decree and propose to the whole church to be beleeued, that we
firmly beleue to be most true & infallible. Fol : 23*

5 ] r They weaken the authority of the scripturs very much, as may
appear by many bould (if not blasphemus) assertions, as, that the
holy ghoste did not comand or intend that the apostles and euanglists
should write all needfull point of faith ; and that none, or all of them,
euer did performe the same. See the Triple-Cord, fol: 165* (We
aledge this author so often ; not but that we might produse many
other for the like things ; but that it is a late worke sett out by some
Jesuits, & dedicated to the gentrie & nobility of Great Britaine.)*

* The title-page of this hook is as follows : —

" The Triple Cord, or a Treatise proving the Truth of the Roman Religion, By Sacred
Scriptures, Taken in the Literal Sense, Expounded by Ancient Fathers, Interpreted by
Protestant Writers. With A Discover}' of sundry suotle Slights vsed by Protestants,

410 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

Another assertion of this author is, that it is most certaiue that the
originals are in some places corrupted. And no less certaine (saith
he) that sundrie parts of the Scripturs are yet to this day wanting.
Fol: 150- &-157-

From whence they make this conclusion ; that it is the word which
is placed in the moueths of bishops and preists, which shall neuer
perish : alledging -1- Pet • 1- 25- & Mai ■ 2- 7- Isa ■ 59- Vlt-

Which, certainly, saith the author, we no-wher find to be promised
to the word writen.

for euading the force of strongest Arguments, taken from clearest Texts of the foresaid
Scriptures. Si quispiam praeualuerit contra vnum, duo resistunt ei : Funiculus triplex
difficile rumpitur; Eccles. 4. 12. If any may prevayle agaynst one, two resist him: A
triple Cord is hardly broken. Permissum Superiorum, m.dc.xxxiii."

The running title is " The Triple Cord." On the leaf following the title-page is
"The Epistle Dedicatory; To the Protestant Nobility of Great Britaine," signed
" N. N." Then follows " The Preface to the Protestant Reader." The book is a thick
quarto of 801 pp., besides the prefaces and " tables."

All my attempts to find a copy of this book failed, until, in 1866, I inspected one in
the British Museum. (I had previously learned, through the Rev. Henry M. Dexter,
D.D., of Boston, the accomplished historical scholar and divine, that the author of " The
Triple Cord " Avas Lawrence Anderton; and, subsequent!}' to this, from the same source,
that a copy of the book was in the British Museum). On the title-page of this copy is
this manuscript note : " b} r Lawrence Anderton : printed at St. Omers. See Dodd,* vol. 3.
p. 100." Also, at foot: " 1634. The author died 17 April, 1643." On a blank leaf, at
the beginning of the volume, is the following, written by a former owner, " John Egan : "
" The author was Lawrence Anderton, born in Lancashire, learnt the rudiments of his
education at Blackbourn, and was afterwards sent to Cambridge, where he was a great
favorite, and from his sprightly genius and fluent eloquence was commonly called ' silver-
mouthed Anderton.' Being much addicted to controversy he could not get over some
difficulties regarding the Keformation, which at last ended in his being received into the
Catholic Church. He afterward went to Rome, where he became a Jesuit, and was a
great ornament to that illustrious body. He afterwards resided in his native country,
Lancashire, where he was highly esteemed for his preaching, and admirable character.
He was the author of, 2. ' The Progeny of Catholics & Protestants,' 4to, Rouen, 1632.
3. A Treatise entitled 'One God, one Faith,' with the letters W B. prefixed, 8yo;
1625."

This note is continued on a leaf at the end of the volume : " The Rev. Dr. Oliver, in
his Collections for the Biography of the Members of the Society of Jesus, states that the
author had been a minister of the Protestant Church before his conversion. He became
a novice in 1604, set. 28, and shone in the sequel amongst the most exalted names in the
English Provence. He died on the 17th of April, 1643, aged 67. In speaking of the
work, The Triple Cord, Dr. Oliver says: I suspect [the author of] this is the chaplain
of the Earl of Essex, whom F. Gerard received into his house in London, and who
assigned 3 reasons for adopting the Institute of St. Ignatius. 1. Because it was detested
more than the other religious orders by Heretics and the wicked of all classes. 2. Be-
cause it foreclosed all hopes of church preferment. 3. Because it especially cherished
the practice of Obedience." — Ed.

* Charles Dodd (pseud.), "Church History of England," &c, by Richard Tootle, 1737-42.— Ed.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 411

6 1 ? We may add hereunto how they haue preffered the vulgar Latin
translation aboue the originals, and made it authentick in the trials of
all doctrins and controuersies, though it is bnowne to be very corrupte.

And yet they thinke not themselues saue enough (by all this pro-
uission) but they endeauor what they can to keepe the Scriptures
shut vp in an vnknowne tongue ; so greatly are they affraid of the
light of the same.

YONGE-MEN.

Alas, if these things be admited, what mischeefe will not follow ?
This is to aduance man aboue God, a lye aboue the truth ; the word
of a mortall & corrupte ma aboue the word of the eternall, liuing
God, whose word is truth, wheras all men are lyers; for if this
church be such a souraign lady to camand ouer all the Christians in
the world, as the only spouse of Christ, and the pope her head (in
whom lyes all the power, as Christ pretended vickar) which cannot
erre ; and for this her owne testimoney, only, must be taken ; will not
the great whor say as much? Reu: 17*

Againe, if they may make such fables as Tobit, Judith, &c. canonicall
scripture, and make a nose of waxe of the rest, to interprete them as
they please, without controule ; and their vnwriten traditions, to pas
for currente coyne ; and not the writen word of God, but the word
that is in the mouthes of their bishops and shauen preists to be per-
menent & neuer to perish ; they may make religion to be what they
please, and make the blind world beleiue what they list ; and impose
their owne lusts for laws ; and lead men hoodwinkte, whither they
will. If ther were no more in poperie but what you haue here laide
downe, it might be sufficent to make any to abhore this popish religion,
or to looke towards the same, which is thus dirogatorie to the honour
of God, and [h]is word.

ANCIENT-MEN.

You may well say so, when you shall see what they build on those
foundations ; and what conclusions they draw from these principles.

YONGE-MEN.

We pray you to open the same further vnto vs, that we may see
more into this misterie of iniquity, and may be strengthened against
the deceits and errours of the same.

ANCIENTE-MEN.

We shall shew you what that great learned man, Du Plesis, hath
noted in his booke called the Mistrie of Iniqvitie. The canonists &

412 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

other magnifiers of the pope & church of Rome (saith he) affirme
that Christ, whilst he liued, he was head of the church militante, but
when he dyed, Peter was head, and since Peeter's death, the pops of
Rome his successors.

1. And the pope, (say they) is Christ's vickar, not only in earthly
but celestiall and infernall things, euen ouer the angels, both good
and bad ; he may excommunicate the angels them selues.

2. All the whole world is his diocesse. God and he hath but one
consistorie ; Christ and he but one tribunall.

3. The pops will is the rule of justice ; what he doth God houlds it
well done. The square, hee may make round ; right, of that which is
wrong, and some thing of that which is nothing. He is aboue all laws,
aboue all decrees, cannons & counsels, and may be contrarie vnto them.

4. Nay, (say they) the Lord should not haue been discreete had he
not left such a vicar behind him that could doe all these things. Du
Plessis. Mist. Iniq : fol : 454- *

He further declares, out of some of their gloses, that they affirme
and say that the pope is more then a man, and say of him, Thou greatest
of all things, thou art neither God nor man, but some intermediant
power. Yea, some call him our Lord God, the pope. Yea, (saith he)
others recomend him for a God vnto vs, and that in essence. Would
euer any haue beleeued such things (saith he) if the spirit of God had
not foretould as much of antichrist. Fol : 454*

And yet, as if they had not vttered blasphemie enough, they say he
may dispence against the apostls as their superiour ; and against the
Old Testament, in that he is greater then all the authors of the same.

And least these things should be thought too much to be belieued
of some pops that be wicked or vnworthy men (as many haue been
knowne to be), they aledge a decree mentioned by Gratian, wherin it
is affirmed that none are made pops but such as are worthy ; or if they

* The edition of this work used by Bradford has the following title-page, as per
copy in the Library of the Historical Society : —

" The Mysterie of Iniquitie, That is to say, The Historie of the Papacie: Declaring by
what degrees it is now mounted to this height, and what Oppositions the better sort
from time to time have made against it. Where is also defended the right of Emperours,
Kings, and Christian Princes against the assertions of the Cardinals Bellarmine and
Baronises. By Philip Morney, Knight, Lord du Plessis, &c Englished by Samson
Lennard. . . . London, Printed by Adam Islip, Anno Dom. 1612; fol. 662 pp."

The work was published in French the year before, and also about the same time in
Latin. The translator had a copy of each before him while engaged on his English
version. The author, an illustrious French Protestant, and Privy Counsellor of Henry IV.,
was born in 1549, and died in 1623. — Ed.

187Q.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 413

be not, so soone as they enter into that seate, by vertu trasmited from
Sainct Peter vnto them, it maks them worthy. Fol : 81*

And amongst the dictats of Gregorie the •?• it is said, that a pope
canonically ordained, is vndoubtedly made holy by the merit of S 1-
Peter. Fol : 243* So, as you may see, these juglers prouid a salue
for euery sore.

But let vs add hereunto what Pareus hath noted on Reu : in Chap.
9** The fathers of t^e Lateran councell (saith he) gaue this plasphemus
applause to the pope :

Thou art all things, and aboue all things ; to thee is giuen all power
in heauen, and in earth.

And againe by another in the same place.

By thy vnerring -word, thou rulest ouer all ;

And $tt it is a God on earth men should thee call."

Hence is it that in the '40* Dist : " Si pape ", they call the pope a God
vpon earth, ouer all heauenly, earthly, ghostly, & worldly things ; and
he is all his owne, and no man may say, What doest thou ? And though
he were so euill that he should lead innumerable heaps of men into
hell ; yet may no man reproue him for it, and say, What dost thou ?
From hence it is allso that they draw these conclusions :

1. That the seat of Rome giues strength to all laws, but is subjecte
to none.

2. And Paule the '2' affirmed that the pope carries within the cir-
cuite of his owne breste all deuine and humane laws.

3. That no man may judge the pope, nor giue any sentence aboue
his, but he shall judg all men vpon the earth.

4. That he may depose kings and disanule the alegeance of their
subjects, and set vp whom he pleases.

5. That he hath authority to breake all oaths, bonds & obligations,
made betweene man & man, of high or low degree. Doct Barns,
fol : 186-

6. The canonists hould that no man may dispute the pops power,
and ther is a law amonge the pops decrees for that purpose.

* The "work here cited is " A Commentary upon the Divine Revelation of the Apostle
and Evangelist Iohn. By David Pareus : sometimes Professor of Divinity in the Uni-
versitie of Heidelberg . . . Translated out of the Latine into English, by Elias Arnold.
Amsterdam. Printed by C. P. Annocio id cxliv." (1644.)

A copy is in Harvard College Library. The work was originally published in Latin,
in 1628, six years after the author's death. Pareus was a celebrated divine of the Re-
formed Religion, and was born at Silesia in 1548. — Ed.

414 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

YONG-MEN.

These things which you haue rehersed, maks vs almost to tremble
that any mortall men should dare thus to lift vp them selues, and
arrogate such things vnto them as canot belonge to any mortall creat-
ure. Surely this is the very voyce of antichrist thus to aduance
him selfe aboue all that is called God ; and that very mouth that
speaketh great and blasphemus things. Reu : 13* 5*

But let vs hear, (we pray you) how they haue improued this power,
and carried, in the execution of the same.

ANCIENT-MEN.

They haue corrupted (hereby) all sound doctrine, and made the
church to grone vnder the burthen of their traditions and vile cere-
monies, which they have multiplied aboue measure ; and changed or cor-
rupted (in a maner) all the ordinances of God ; and imposed the pops
laws, canons, decrees & decretals, vpon the consciences of men,
in stead of the word & law of God ; and made all, both high & low, to
bow downe vnder the burden of the same ; establishing a lordly & power-
ful hirarchie of Cardinals, Archbishop, Lord Bishops, Abats, & Arch-
deacons ; preists, parsons, vicars, deans, canons, prebands ; and monkes
& friers, &c. euen almost without number ; all of them the sworne vas-
sals of the pope, bound to him by an oath of canonicall obedience, to be
ministers vnder him, to execute this exorbitante power with all rigore,
as he should please and coinand ; sending his legats and emissaries to
all princes courts, and other places, with his bulls and mandats to
signifie his pleasure, and requir obedience vnto the same. And if
performance was not according to his mind & pleasure, then followed
thundering threatenings of excommunications and intredictions, and
execution of the same ; euen vpon kings and keisears & their whole
kingdoms. Which not only made the world to wonder, but to quake
& tremble at this stupendious power, and say, who is able to make warr
with the beast ?

He tooke the impire from the Grecias and gaue it to the French.
And after from the French he transferd it to the Germans. Gregorie
•2* excomunicated Leo, the emperour, & depriued him of his re-
uenues. Pope Zacharie deposed Childrich, king of France. Leo the
•3* depriued the Grecian emperour of the westerne impire. Alex-
ander the *3- made Frederick the •!■ lye downe, and prowdly
trampled on his necke, before he would be reconciled vnto him.
Gregorie the -7* displaced Henerie the *4- He was twize excomuni-

1S70.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 415

cated ; and he and his empres, with their yong sone, made to waite at
the pops gate, bare footed, in the sharp time of winter, fasting from
morning tile night, humbly craueing absolution. Thus he continued
for -3* days. The -4- day he gott admitance. But after all this, by an
other pope, (Pascales the '2") he was deposed, who sent certaine bishops
to dispoyle him of his crowne and emperiall ornaments. And, when
they tooke them from him, he asked them the reason ; they said it was
the pops pleasure. Afterwards he was by necessitie constrained to
begg a prebands place of the bishope of Spire (whom he had aduancte
and done much for), but he denyed him. So he, pore prince, went to
Leige, and died for sorrow, after he had reigned '50* years. And yet
this proud & cruell pope was not satisfied, but caused his body to be
diged vp out of the graue, and to remaine *5* years vnburied. Inocent
the *3' thrust out Otho the *4* Inocent the *4* tooke the empire from
Frederick the *2* Clement the '6* excomunicated Lodowick the *4*
and Julyus the *2* depriued the king of Nauar of his kingdom ; and
our king John was forct to resigne his crowne and kingdom to Pan-
dolfe, the pops legate, & become his vassal & fewderarie. Many more
instances might be giuen, euen enough to fill a volume ; but we will
only add, how Clement the *5-, to pacifie his furie, caused Francis
Dandalus, the Venetion ambasadoure, to haue a chaine of iron tyed
aboute his necke, and to lye downe vnder the pops table, ther, like a
dogge, to catch the bones which fell from the table, vntill the pops fury
was asswaged to absolue them. Now, surely, we beleeue they can
neuer show that euer Peter did such a thing, or had kings & emperours
to wait vpon him ; some to lead his horse, others to hold his stirupe,
and all to fall downe before him & kise his feete.

Yong-MeNc

No verily, we beleeue (if we may credite the scriptures) these canot
be Peters successors, but that antichrist, the man of sine, which ad-
uanceth him selfe aboue all that is called God. But we pray you to
proceed to some other points of this churchs doctrine.

Ancient-Men.

1. They teach their disciples and all their people to beleeue as the
church beleeues ; and by an implicite faith to rest in what the pope
and his councell dictats vnto them, which is coherente with the former
grounds. If they tell them it is so and so defined, it is enough for
them without further search.

2 ,J [ In stead of ediffying them with sound doctrine from the word of

416 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

God in the scriptures, they feede them with fabls out of their lying
legends, filled with foolish fancies and lying miracles, and other such
apocriphall stufe.

S ly . They teach them to worship images, and fall downe before stocks
and stons ; and tell them they are the layemens books, in ? or by which,
they are to read & learn their Catholick doctrine & religion. Yea,
the -8* generall councell, in An -87 1* not only allowed the worshiping
of images, but comanded that the image of Christ shouldbe houlden
in no les reuerence then the books of the gospell. And the author
of the Triple-Cord saith, that images haue a more perfecte and nearer
relation to God then the Arke (of his Couenant) had. Fol : 381* and
that the image of Christ is the same to the eye, that the name of Jesus
is to the eare -385* But aboue all they make an abhominable idole of
the mass, and worship their breaden God ; the bearing witnes against
which hath cost the blood of so many martires (which are still fresh
in memory) in our fore fathers days.

4^ They joyne other mediators with Christ, espetially the virgine
Mary, whom they call the queene of Heauen. Ther is no fauor so
great but is obtained of her, no necessitie so pressing which she taks
not away. To her they sing this song of praise :

Thou art the hope of comfortles,
True mother of the fatherlesse,
A comfort to the pore in thrall,
The sick, a sure salue haue thee shall,
To all things thou art all in all.

Thus (saith Pareus, in Eeu : foil : 300-) they make Mary the hauen
& helper of all men vnto saluation.

Yea, they doe in a sort equall her milke with Christs blood. As,

Thus in the mothers milke I will the Sone his blood infuse,
Then which a beter antidote I cannot surely vse.
O when shall I thy sweet breasts suck, and with thy wounds fed be,
Injoy thy duggs, thy wounds, Christ, euen such felicity ?

And they sing this antheme publicly in their churches

O happy mother of that Sonne
Which hast all our sinnes foredone ;
Out of a mothers right we pray thee,
Bid our Redeemer to obay thee.

Yea, she is called the queene of mercy, who hath broken the serpents
head. And Pope Leo the -lO* by his secretary, (saith Du Plesis)
calleth her Deam, a goddesse.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD^ DIALOGUE. 417

Yea (saith he), I fear & tremble at the consideration of her psalter;
wherein all that which Dauid hath spoken of God the father, the sone,
and the holy ghost, is applyed vnto her, and that without any maner
of exception, throughout, euen from the begining to the end, changing
Dominum, into Domina ; the lord into the lady ; as, Blessed is the
man that loueth Mary, that feareth her, that praiseth her name, that
trusteth in her, that hopeth in her, &c. Haue mercie vpon me O
mother of mercie, and wash me from all my iniquities. Come let vs
worship the Lady ; let vs praise the Virgin that hath saued vs ; let vs
worship her, and let vs conffes our sins vnto her, &c. Du-Plessisse of
the Mass, fol : 333-*

And for other their canonized saincts, they asscribe *7* things to be-
long to them.

First, to be publickly declared for saincts, by the pope.

2. ly to be inuocated in the prairs of the church.

3. ly to haue churches & altars.

4. ly an office, & sacrifice in honour of them.

5. ly a festifull day.

6. ly an image with lights, in signe of glorie.

The -7* reliks and shrines.

These (with many others) they worship and inuocate, and vtter
many blasphemies in their idolatrious praises. We shall only instance
in two or '3- of them. And first in their St. Francis, who, (they say)
is a more worthy person than John Baptist. John was a foreruner of
Christ, but Francis both a foreruner & standerd bearer. John was the
friend of the bridgroome, but Francis like vnto the bridgroome him
selfe. Againe, (say they) though John was highly aduancte, yet,
Francis was aboue him, for he was lift vp into the place from which
Lucifer was throwne, & lodged in Christ's side, &c. Yea, (say they)
he is better then all the apostls, for they forsooke nothing for Christ, but
some little ship ; but he forsooke all, euen to his hosen. This man, (say
they) is the image of Christ, as Christ is the image of the Father.
He is via vitce, the way of life ; & he that dyeth in his habite, is a
hapy man, yea if he haue but his hand in the sleeue of it. Bap-
tisme doth wash away originall sinne, but the hoode of St. Francis

* The English version of this work has the following title, as per Lowndes's Bibliog.
Manual: " Fowre Books of the Institutions, Vse and Doctrine of the Holy Sacrament
of the Eucharist in the old Church; as likewise how, when, and by what Degrees the
Masse is brought in, in Place thereof. Translated by R. S., London, 1600, folio." The
work first appeared in French, in 1598, and in Latin, in 1605. — Ed.

418 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

much more. If you resolue to continue to wear it, it is worth as
much to you as a new baptizing, yea, rather a new abolishment, not of
originall sine only, but of all maner of actuall sines. Du-Plessis of the
Mass e . fol : 337-

And their St Dominick corns not much behind; for the Arch-
bishop Antonine, (saith Du Plesis) poiseth his mirackles, not against
St. Francis, but against Christs. Christ, (saith he) raised but *3*
from death, at all ; but Dominick at Rome only raised as many ; and
•40* more nere to Tholosa, which were drowned on horse-back in
the riuer Garona, besids infinite others. All power in heauen & in
earth is giuen vnto Christ, and this power was in no small measure
bestowed on Dominick, ouer all things in heauven, earth and hell, &
that euen in this life ; for he had angels to attend vpon and serue him,
the elements obeyed him, and the deuils trembled vnder him. The
Lord saith, I am the Light of the world, and the church singeth of
Dominick, Thou art the Light of the world. Christ, after his resurec-
tion, went into his disciples, the dores being shut ; but Dominick
whilst he bare about this mortall body, which is much more, went into
the temple, the dors being shut. Paul and the Apostls induced and
perswaded men to beleeue ; but Dominick, to obserue the councels,
which is a shorter course & cutt to saluation. Thus, (saith Du Plesiss,)
they still giue him the better, both of Christ and the Apostles. Fol :
336-

The next that we shall name, was our St. Thomas Becket, who
was canonized by Alexander the '3* ; an[d] in the derision of the
blood of Christ, was praid vnto in these words, (with other blas-
phemies :) That, by the grace & fauor purchased by the blood of Thomas,
he would make vs ascend whither Thomas is ascended.

And how his shrine was both adornd and adored, our histories do
declare ; being flocked vnto by all sorts of persons, being more hon-
oured and prayed vnto then God himselfe. Of Christ and all his
apostls and prophets, are not writen so many great miracles as of this
our Becket, (saith M r Bale,) ; as that* so many sick, blind, lame, croked,
bedrid, leprouse, sorrowfull, excited, imprisoned, hanged, drowned, and
dead, were by them deliuered, as by him.

Yea, King Henery went as a humble penitent in pilgrimage to his
toombe, and resigned his power vpon their high altar, and consented
to their vsurped liberties ; and being all naked, saue a pair of lining

* He means, " As that not so many sick, lame," &c. — Ed.

1870.] governor Bradford's dialogue. 419

breeches vpon his nether parts, receiued of the monks a disciplin with
rods in their chapter house ; and was glad he scaped so. Bale, in his
Acts of English Votaries.*

By these few instances you may see how idolatrusly they worshiped,
& prayed vnto their saincts ; not only equeliseng them with God &
Christ, but often ascribing more honour vnto them then to the Lord
him selfe. And yet of many of them, it may be justly doubted, they
were rather miserable wretches in hell, then saincts in heauen.

"We may also add, how they not only thus joyned them with God in
their praires & inuocations, but also swore by their names, some times
singly, and sometimes joyntly with God ; as, by God, and our Lady ;
and, So help me God, & all saincts, &c.

All which considered, made Lodouicus Viues, (an ingenuous Papist)
confess, that he could find no difference betwixte the opinione that the
Christians haue of their saincts, & that which the Pagans haue of their
Gods ; when as they giue them the same honour, that is giuen to God
him self. Yiues, in August : de Ciuit : Dei* !■ 8* C* vlf f

o. ] : They rest not vpon Christ and his righteousnes & merits only
for justification & saluation, but vpon their owne works & merits, (at
least in part) and vpon the praiers & merits of saincts, and the pops
pardons, &c.

Nay, that which is more, by their works of supererrogation, to de-
serue & merit for others ; which being added vnto the merits of
Christ, doe augmente the treasurie of the church; which the pope,
(as Lord Treasurer) doth, by his indulgences, so prodigally dispence,
espetially for money.

* John Bale or Baleus, Bishop of Ossory, in Ireland, a voluminous writer, was born
in Suffolk, 1495, and died 1563. The work cited in the text is entitled: " Actes of Eng-
lish Yotaryes, coinprehendynge their vnchast Practyses and Examples by all Ages, from
the Worldes Begynnynge to thys present Yeare, collected out of their owne Legends
and Chronycles. Wesel, 1546, 8vo." Black letter. This is probably the first edition.
A later edition, in two parts, 16mo, printed, as appears by the last leaf of Part I,
in 1560, is in the Library of the Boston Athenreum. It once belonged to the Rev.
Thomas Prince, and bears his autograph, with " Sudbury, June 1. 1713." — Ed.

f "De Civitate Dei." This, the most popular and famous of the works of Saint
Augustine, was first printed in 1467. " Monasterio Sublacensi Conradus Sweynheym,
et Arnoldus Pannartz die vero 12, mensis Julii, Mcccclxvii. fol." It went through
numerous editions. In 1522 was printed the edition with the commentary of Joan : Ludo-
vicusTives, which Bradford quotes in the text. An English translation was printed in
1610; and a second, and the best, edition, in 1620. Vives was one of the revivers of
literature, and famous for his learning. He was born at Valencia in Spain, in 1492,
and died at Bruges, according to some accounts, in 1541. 'See Watt's Bibliotheca
Britannica.) — Ed.

420 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. «[Oct.

As for their other doctrins, of purgatorie, penance, pilgrimages,
crossings, censsings, praying vpon beads for the liuing & the dead,
worshiping of relicks, and a number more (too tedious to relate),
we refferr you to others who treate of them at large.

Yet we may not forgett their forbiddings of mariage, and meats,
which the scriptures call doctrines of diuels; and what horrible euils
haue growen therby, to the dishonoure of God, & violation of his laws !

They count it sine for their clergie to marie, yea, they call it the
heresie of the Nicolaitans ; that which the scriptures call honourable,
they repute vile and impure, wresting that scripture against mariage :
They which are in the flesh canot please God. And frame this goodly
reason, that as the Lord would be concerned in the womb of a virgine,
so would he be receiued at the altar with vnpoluted and virgins hands.
And Vrbanus the Second was not contented to punish those that were
maried, and force them to put away their wiues ; but ordained that
their wiues should become slaues to the prince, or lord, whose subjects
they were.

Yonge-Men.

We haue heard enough of their idolatrie and superstition, and allso
of their hereticall and erronious doctrins, to make vs loath and abhore
the same. We pray you to let vs hear something of their maners in
their Hues & conuersations, espetially of their holy clergie, who seeme
to pretend this virgine puritie, and in respecte of others are called
spirituall, and religious, most holy, reuerend, venerable, &c.

Ancient-Men.

To satisfie your requeste we shall only mention a few things, of
many, which graue-authors haue published to the world, and left in
writing, to the view of all.

And hear, in the first place, what Pareus hath noted in Reu : Chap.
•6* fol: 125* Baleus, (saithhe) hath distributed these antichristian popes
from Boniface vnto Julius the -2- (that is from the year '606* vnto the
year '1513-) into fiue distinct classes or orders; who, for the most part
(as Genebardus, a Popish writer of their owne conf [e]seth) were magi-
cians, sorcerers, atheists, adulterers, murderers, wicked, perjured and
impure ; not apostolicall, but apostatical and hereticall men. Thus
farr he, being one of their owne.

Againe, (saith Pareus) Rome is an abhominable warehouse of all
spirituall and corporall fornications. In the citie it selfe, filthy lusts
not to be named are comonly and freely comited, nourished, and com-

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 421

mended, and gaine made therof. If any doubt, let him read histories,
(saith he) or goe to Rome, and he shall find the truth of that which
Petrarcha complaines of, viz. that deflowring, rauishing, incests and
adulteries, are but a sporte to the pontificall lasciuiousnes.

And he shall find that of Mantuan,* (one of their owne poets,) to be
true.

And again.

& againe

Goe shame into the villages, if they refuse

Such loathsome beastlines: whole Rome is now a stewes.

Roma vale, vidi, satis est vidisse, reuertar :
Cum leno, meretrix, scurra cynaedus ero.

Now farwell Rome. I haue thee seene, it was enough to see :
I will come back when as I mean, bawd, harlot, knaue to be.

Roma quid est ? Amor est, quern dat preposterus ordo,
Roma mares : noli dicere plura scio.

But what is Rome ? She is that love wch naturs rule doth break,
For its at Rome 'mongst males ; I know much more, but will not speak.

Pareus on Reu : fol : 234*

Vnto which may be added that old verce applied by R. Grosthead.f

The world was not enough to satisfie
Their auerice, nor whores their luxury.

Du-Plessise, in his Treaties of the Masse, fol: 188* sheweth that
Auentine J reporteth that vnder the shadow of continencie & holines al
sorts of incestes were comited (by them) without the sparing of any
degree.

And Vlrich B. of Ausbourg complaies, that they are not afraid of
whordoms, adultries, incestes, buggeries and other vitiouse practices ;
yea, of nothing of all that which the Scriptures call the abhominations
of the Cananites.

And likewise S t- Bernard saith that the diuell hath strewed the
ashes of Sodome vpon the church (clergie) and that they are sham-

* Baptist Spagnuoli Mantuan (sometimes Latinized " Mantuanus " ), an Italian poet,
of much fame in his day, was born at Mantua, in 1448, and died in 1516. A full account
of his writings may be seen in Brunet. Bradford quotes him here through Pareus. — Ed.

t Robert Grosthead or Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, regarded as the most learned
ecclesiastic of the 13th century, was born about 1175, and died 1253. His unpublished
writings are more numerous than those that have been given to the world. — Ed.

t John Aventin, author of the Annals of Bavaria, died in 1536. This work gained
him a great reputation. See Watt, I. 57. — Ed.

422 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

les, not careing to couer & conceale themselues, but take their swinge
in the counting of all maner of villanie vnder the vaile of continencie.

But, let vs repaire, (saith Du-Plesis) to the mother of fornications,
and ther we shall see the cardinals carrying the curtizans about with
them in their coaches, and the pope taking ordinarie tribute and
yearly sumes of money of them ; and to keepe a stewes (I loth and
abhore to speak of the worst) him selfe. Ther we shall find (saith
he) Aretines,* not in painted shapes, but in their liuely persons ; John
de-Casa, arch-bishop of Beneuento, deane of the Apostolike Chamber,
and the pops nuncio, writing the praises of buggery in Italian verse,
and causing the same to be imprinted at Venice.

Mantuan, though a gray-friar, saith,

Sanctus ager scurris, venerabilis ara Cinsedis
Seruit, honorandse diuum ganymedibus aides.

The afForesaid Johanes De-Casa placied the filthy Sodomite vnder
the pops nose ; and he it was that caused Francies Spira to subscribe
to a recantation, which brought him to that fearful desperation.

It is said that Sixtus the •4* builded stews of both kinds, in Rome,
and thereby got great rents and reuenus vnto the Church of Rome.
And Peter Ruerius,f (an other pope) licenced the whole family of the
cardinals, to play the Sodomits, the '3* hole months in the year, June,
July and August. Abridg. of the Acts & Mon. fol: 151*

Yea, it is openly knowne that in the popish cuntries comone stewes
are alowed, vnto which youth and all sorts resorte to satisfie their
fleshly lustes ; as vsually men doe to tauernes to quench their thirst.

Peter Martire also shews in what pompe the : harlots in Rome
liue. Their houses, (saith he,) be most statly & gorgious, (and
comonly such as belong to the church). They ride openly in chariots
appareled like princes, and sometimes vpon their fine foote-cloaths.

* Reference is here made, I suppose, to some of the productions of Peter Aretin, an
obscene and satirical writer of the sixteenth century, a native of Arezzo, who wrote
verses to accompany the immodest engravings of Julio Romano. See Bayle's General
Dictionary enlarged by many hands, under his name. — Ed.

f- Peter Ruerius was not pope, but was one of the many cardinals made by Sixtus
IV., who became pope in 1476. The true statement of Fox, quoting his authority, is,
that Sixtus, " at the request of this Peter Cardinal, and of Jerome, his brother,*'
" granted unto the whole family of Cardinal St. Lucy, in the three hot months of June.
July, and August, free liberty," &c. Bradford here quotes the " Abridgment of the
Acts and Monuments, fol. 151." The only edition of such an abridgment, existing in
Bradford's time, known to me, is that of T. Bright, published in 1589, now before me;
and the statements here made are found on pp. 386 and 387 of that volume. — Ed.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 423

They haue in their company men wearing gould cheaines, and disguised
persons, and sometimes cardinals, espetially in the night time ; and a
most sumptuous traine of waiting women. P. Martyre. Com : places,
fol : -472- -473*

And Mr. Tindall affirmes, that it was permited to the ministers in
Dutch-land, (to whom mariage was forbiden) that paying a gilder to
the archdeacon, euery one might freely & quietly haue his whore,
and put her awa) at his pleasure, and take another, as often as he list.
And so it was in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Spaine. Fol :
262-

It was found at the desolution of our abeis in England, that some
of the friers had *6* some *7* some *10' and some *20 concubines.
And many were detected of most infamous incests, whordoms, & filthy
sodomitrie, &c, as doth appear by the records, saith Doctor Willett,
on Jude, fol: 107* f

And Dtr. Barnes saith, the pope and his prelats sell all things for
money, for money they make vsurie lawfull, for money they make
whoredome as lawfull as marriage, for money they make as good mar-
chandise of womens .... as the gould-smith doth of gilded plate;
and all this by the authority of the keys as they pretend. Barnes J on
the Keies. fol : 265* And these verces of Alexander the Sixt verifie
the same.

Alexander sells crucifixes, Christ, & altars high,

And reason good he should so doe, for first he did them buy.

And this of Mantuan,

— — Yenalia nobis
Templa, sacerdotes, altaria, sacra, coronae,
Ignis, thura, preces, coelum est venale, deusq.

Temples, preists, altars, sacred things, and crovraes renowed too,
Fire, frankincense, prayers, Heaven and God here sell we doe.

* This is Peter Martyr, " Vermilius," not he of Angleria, with whom he was some-
time contemporary. The former was a distinguished divine, born at Florence in 1500,
Professor of Divinity for a time, at Oxford, and dying at Zurich in 1562. The " Com-
mon Places " of this author were translated into English by Anthony Marten, London,
1583. Wood has perpetuated his memory in his " Athena?." — Ed.

t Dr. Andrew Willett, a learned English divine, was born in the city of Ely, in
1562, and died in 1621. He wrote many commentaries on different parts of the Scrip-
tures. — Ed.

X Dr. Robert Barnes was Professor of Divinity, and Chaplain to Henry VITI. He
suffered as a Protestant martyr in 1540. A collection of his works, including those of
William Tyndall and John Frith, made by John Fox, was published in 1573, fol. This
may have been the volume used by Bradford. — Ed.

424 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

And Cardinall Morton (that great politician) for money, got a licence
ibr '14* to studie negromacie, him selfe being one. Tind : 367*

And what is it that the pope doth not dispence with, for money ? It
is knowne, (saith Peter Martyre,) how by the pops licence, Emanuell,
the king of Portingaile, maried with tow sisters; and Catherine,
Queene of England, maried with tow brothers. Ferdinand, the King
of Naples, maried his owne aunte. And it is affirmed, that Martine
the -5- gaue licence to one to marie his naturall sister. Peter Martier,
fol : 453* Com : places.

But to conclude. We will giue you an instance in tow or -3* of these
holy vicars of Christ, who haue this plenarie power to dispence with
and pardon whom they please.

And first in Pope John the -13- He was a libidinus beast, a mon-
strous varlet ; he comited inceste with *2* of his sisters ; he caled on
the diuell to help him in his play, &c. ; he was deposed, but by the
whores in Rome he was restored ; but after, he was taken in adultrie
& slaine by the womans husband. Abridg. Acts & Mon : fol : 39* &
Simson of the Church, fol : 347*

Siluester the *2* was a sorcerer, and was exalted to the papacy by
the deuill vpon condition he should giue him selfe to the deuill after
his death. Fol : 48-

Hildebrand, a firebrand, a most wicked man, a manifest nigro-
mancer, a sorcerer, infected with a pithonicall spirite, condemned by
the councell of Brixia.f

Benedict the -9* aspired to the papacie by magicke, & practized
inchantments, and conjurations, and alured women to his lusts by
magicall arts. He was vnlearned and most vitious; and at length
sould his dignitie for 4500" waight of gould. And it is said he ap-
peared after his death in a monsterous shape, more like a beast than
a man.

Sergius the *3- caused the body of Formosus to be taken out of his
graue after it had been buried -8* years, and beheaded it, (as if he had
been aliue) and then cast it into Tiber, as vnworthy of buriall. And
besides his cruelty, he was a vile whoremonger. He had a sone by
Marozia, the wife of Guido, a famous harlot, who afterwards was

* " The Historie of the Church since the Days of our Saviour Jesus Christ until this
present Age, by Patrick Symson. London 1624," folio. The author was minister at
Stirling. — Ed.

t Brixen, a fortified town of Tyrol, south of the Alps. — Ed.

1870.]

governor Bradford's dialogue. 425

pope, calico* John the •12** This Marozia was an incestuous harlot,

and maried tow breetheren, Guido & Hugo, of whom this verse was

made.

Nubere Germanis satagens Herodia binis.

This was a judgment of God, (saith the author) vpon the Romans ,
they were guided by the popedome, and the popedome was guided by
harlots.

Julius the -2- was full of iniquitie and a great warier. As he was
going to ware, he cast the keies of St. Peter into Tiber, saing, seeing
the keyes of Peter would not serue his turne, he would take him selfe
to the sword of Paule ; and by his means in •7* years time, -200,000*
Christians were destroyed with cursing and warr.

But we will ende with Alexander, the *6* that monster of men. It is
said of him, (in the French historie,) that he was very dishoneste,
hauing no sinceritie, no shame, no trueth, no faith, nor no religion,
&c. Serres, fol: 314-f

He had # 2* sons, one he made Duck of Candia, the yonger Cardinale
of Valence. He had also a daughter, (a very bewtifull woman).
The father, and both these breethrern, made her their whore in corn-
one ; but the cardinall conceiueing that the duck, his brother, had the
better share in her loue, and that he was raised to higher state then
him selfe, he caused him to be murdered secretly in the night, as he
ride in the streets, and had his body thrown into Tiber. Guiccirdin,
fol: 138-4:

After this he cast of his cardinall habite, and became a great
warrier. And such a wicked couple were these tow, that it grue to be
a prouerbe, that the pope neuer did that which he said, nor his sone
seldome speake what he ment.

But obserue the righteous judgment of God vpon them ; when they
were ariued almost to the tope of their greatnes, and the hight of their
hopes, they were throwne downe; for, on a time, haueing prepared a
banket, and inuited some cardinals, & great ones (which stood in their

* More properly John XL, who became Pope, anno. 931. — Ed.

t Jean de Serres. Generall Historie of France, translated by Edward Grimeston,
London, 1624, folio. —Ed.

\ Francis Guicciardini, a nobleman of Florence, and a well-known writer, was born
in 1482, and died in 1540. His History of the Wars of Italy was first published at
Florence (the first sixteen books only) in 1561, fol. The remaining four books were
published three years later. The work was first translated into English by Geoffrey
Fenton, 1579, fol., entitled " The History of Guicciardin " ; yet I doubt, on examination,
if this is the edition used by Bradford. — Ed.

426 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct

way,) whom they mente to dispatch with poyson, they had for that end
prepared some bottels of wine mixed for the turne ; but by a mistake
in the serueters, the pope had giuen him wine out of the wrong bottle,
of which both he and his sone drounke ; so as he dyed shortly after ;
and his sone being yonge and more vigorus, with the help of antidots
scaped narowly, and lay sicke a longe time vpon it, and all their de-
signes were ouerthrowne therby. — Qualis vita, finis ita.

When the pope was dead, (saith Guiccardine) all Rome rane to
see him, and rejoyced to see such a serpent destroyed ; who with his
imoderate ambition and poysoUed infidelity, togeather with all the
horible examples of cruelty, luxurie and monstrus coueteousnes, seling
without distinction both holy and prophane things, had infected the
whole world. Thus Guiccardine, a writer of ther owne, in his His-
toric of Italie fol: *234* & "236. — Quae bona si non est, finis tamen
ilia malorum est.

Yong-Men.

It is aparente by what you haue declared touching both their
spirituall and corporall whordomes, and filthy polutions, that this is
not the chaste-spouse of Christ, but that TtOQvrjg ^ydlr]g, the great
whore, that mother of whordomes and abhominations of the earth.
Reu. 17* And it may be admired they should so long delude the
world and attaine this hight of greatnes.

Ancient-Men.

This is that misterie of iniquitie which begane betimes, and wrought
by degrees. One great steppe to this aduancmente was when Con-
stantine out of his godly zeal bestowed ritches & honours vpon the
church, espetially vpon the bishops, & aduanced Siluester the first,
bishop of Rome, in an eminent maner (because Rome was the imperiall
seat) and caused a miter besett with presious-stons to be put vpon his
head ; which afterwards made them swell with prid & ambition, &
could neuer be satisfied, but sought to be vniversall bishope, and rule
ouer all others. But yet rested not ther, but vsurped the ciuill power
also, and lift vp them selues aboue kings & emperours, and then were
they come to the hight of exaltation, as in the time of Boniface, &c.
when they could say, behould both swords. Ego sum pontifix, Ego
sum Caesar. I am the high priest, I am Caesar. And then they sett
vp whom they would, and threw downe whom they pleased, and the
highest were faine to fall downe before them. According to that of
Mantuan :

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 427

Great Ccesar with victorious kings,

Who goulden crownes doe wear;
They doe adore his footsteps, who

The double sword doth beare.*

Paschalis the '2' when he was chosen pope, put on a purple robe
and a diadem vpon his head, with a scepter in his hand, and a girdle
tyed about him, haueing •?• seales and *7 # keyes hanging therat, to
signifie his plenarie-power to bind & lose, to open & shut ; and of seal-
ing, resigning, and judging. He excomunicated the noble emperour
Henerie the *4* and stirred vp his owne sone to make warr against
him.

Bonifacie the *8- when he kepte his jubile at Rome, the first day he
shewed him selfe in his pontificall garments with Peters keyes ; but the
•2* day he shewed him selfe in royall apparell, with a naked sword
carried before him, and a harold proclaming, Ecce potestas vtriusq
gladij : behold the power of both swords ; claiming to him selfe
soueraine authority in all things, both ciuill & ecclesiasticall. And
he excomunicated Philip, the King of France, and his posteritie, to
the -4* generation ; because he made an ordinance that no money should
be carried out of his countrie to Rome.

When Albert the "l* came to the pope (after he was chosen) and
desired (in a humble maner) his blessing, and to be crowned by him,
the pope tould him he was not worthy, but put the crowne on his
owne head, and a sword by his side, and said, I am Csesar.

They would pretend diuine athority from the scriptures ; , as, Thou
art Peter, to the will I giue the keies of the kingdom of heauen, &c.
Mat* 16* But it is euidente that Phocas, that murderer, was he of
whom Boniface the -3- first obtained the title and power of Vniuersall
Bishop, ad the Church of Rome to be the head of all churches ; which
was that they had long gaped for ; and which being once obtained they
rested not till they trode the emperours & their power vnder their
feete. — Esto procul Roma, qui cupis esse pius.

Yong-Men.

These things which you haue related doe make it clear vnto vs that
this Roman-Church is not the true Church of Christ, but that scarlet-
coloured whor, that great Babylon, that mother of whordoms and
abominations of the earth. Reu "IT* And her popes, &c. that man
of sine, that anti-christ, that sone of perdition, which shall be de-

* See Pareus above cited, page 174. — Ed.

428 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

stroyed. The Lord keepe vs farr from her iniquitie, that we may be
kept from her plagues. But we pray you let vs hear your judgment
of the Episcopacie, as it hath been in England for many years, therin
differing from other reformed churches.

OF THE EPISCOPACIE.

Ancient-Men.

It will be needfull before we speake to this poynte that some thing
be premised to preuent mistakes. And first, we accknowledg that
bishops, such as are mentioned in the holy scriptures, are of deuine
institution and the ordinance of God. 2'r But lord bishops, inuested
with sole spirituall power and gouerment, and exerciseing sole au-
thority, power, and gouerment ouer the churches, without their choyse
or consent, is Strang from the scriptures, no institution of Christ,
but a humane deuise and intrusion.

S l ? Though this lordly hirarchie, consisting of primates, metro-
politans, archbishops, lord-bishops, deans, arch-deacons, with all
their subordinats, and inferior-dependents, in regard of their places,
callings, power, and juridiction, were vnlawfull and Strang from the
rules of holy scriptures, and according to the popish patterne, yet
wee acknowledge that many of their persones were men of worth for
vertue & learning, for pietie & godliness, and many exelent parts ;
yea, some of them blessed martires, who gaue their bodyes to the fire
for the trueth of Christ.

4 1 ? For the maine (in charitie) we beleeue they saw not the euill
in these things, but had their minds more intente vpon the puritie of
doctrine in the cheefe foundations of religion, and purging of the same
from popish-leauen ; espetially the first & most sincere reformers.

5'r Though they saw some thing amise, yet they could not doe all
things at once ; the times would not beare it ; they thought to gaine
vpon them by degrees, as the times would suffer ; and so might haue
done had men remained faithfull, and prid and ambition had not hin-
dered and blinded the eyes of sundrie.

&Y and lastly. The casting out of the pope & his supremasie, and
the supressing of the worst part of the hirarchie, abots, munks.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 429

and friers, those swarmes of locusts which did eat vp and defile the
land ; and pulling downe of their strong foundations and firme cor-
porations, which they thought to be indesoluble ; it did cause such an
earth-quake in the land as did astonish the minds of men ; and in that
junkture of time made the world to wonder, and after times to admire
the same. No maruell therefore, though the greatnes of that work
did not giue way to many other things which were to be the worke of
time.

We are therefore thankfully to acknowledg the great worke of God
in the Reformation made in our dear, natiue-countrie, in which the
tyranie and power of the pope was cast of, and the purity of doctrine
in the cheefe foundations of religion restored ; and though she fell
short in some things of other Reformed Churches, (espetialy in gouer-
ment,) yet not in the grouth of the power of godlynes, but rather to
exceede them in such as the Lord raised vp and inlightened amongst
them.

But herein was the great defecte, that this lordly hierarchie was
continued (after the pope was cut of) in the same calings and offices,
and ruled (in a manner) by the same lawes, and had the same power
& jurisdiction ouer the whole nation, without any distinction ; all being
compelled, (as members of this National! Church) to submite to the
forme of worship established, and this gouerment set ouer them ; farr
difering from the liberty of the gospell and the practiss of some other
Reformed Churches, who only admited such into the church, and
to partake in the holy things, as manifested repentance and made pub-
licke confession of their faith according to the scriptures; and had
such a ministrie sett ouer them as them selues liked & approued of.

And of this Dtr. Ridley biterly complaines, (who was some times a
" bishop, and after, a blessed martyre) How that the greatest parte of
" all sorts, in King Edwards days, both magistrats, bishops, ministers,
" lawyers, and people of all sorts & degrees, were neuer perswaded in
" their harts (but from the teeth outward, and to please the king) of
" the trueth of Gods word, & the religion they reciued, but did dis-
" emble.

" And pitifull and lamentable it was (saith he) to see the people so
" loathsomly and ireligiously, to come to the holy-communion and the
" seruice of God, which they vnderstood neuer a whit, nor could be
" edified any thing at all ther by. Acts & Mon : fol : 517"

A very sad complainte, and shows vs the true face of things in those
times, by him that was able to discern, who was neither Brownist,

430 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

nor seperatist. He allso judged it to be a cheefe cause of Gods judg-
ments which followed in queen-Marys dayes.

Yong-Men.

We perceiue then, that the cheefest agreemente and conformitie
between other Reformed-churches & the Nationall Church of England,
as it stood vnder the prelats and bishops, was more cheefly, in regard
of the puritie and truth of doctrin, then in regarde of either the con-
stitution of the church, or gouermente of the same, in w c h we per-
ceiue they did mainly difer.

Ancient-Men.

You say right in that, for they neuer approued this gouerment, but
bore it as a burden ; as appeares, not only in their generall practise,
but also in their writings. For which take these few testimonies of
many:

By this you see (saith Mr. Beza) that the church is not to be taken
for certaine of the worshipfull clergimen alone, but for an whole
assemblie and congregation of Gods people ; with out whose consent
neither excomunication nor election of ministers ought to be vsed. On
Epeh *5.*

And in his Confession, Art *7* Chap *14- he hath these words : My
Lord-Bishop, M r . Officiall, M r . Vicar, their promoters, procurators, &
the like ; it was not possible to haue brought them into the Church
of God, till they had driuen Christ the maister out. And ther is
neither holy scripture, neither councell, nor anciente doctors, which
euer knew such monsters. And in the '12* Chap, of his Confessions,
he saith: Concerning their suffragans, officials & proctors in the courts
of the church, &c. and other such innumerable vermine, what can I
say otherwise ? for one shall as soone find the diuell among the angels,
as one word or mention of them in the Scriptures, or in the ancient
councels, doctors, Greek or Latine, to approue them. I say more,
that it is as possible to accord these estates, with the true form of the
church, as to accord light and darknes, truth and lyes. So he.
Through the ambition of Bishops (saith Gualter) it is come to pase

* Theodore Beza, an eminent and voluminous French writer and promoter of the
Reformation, was born in 1519, and died in 1606. A large number of his works were
translated into English in his own day. Many of these are now very rare. — Ed.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 431

that the libertie of the church is troden vnder foote, and chosing of
ministers dependeth on them. Gualter on Acts. Horn : 104**

Now where the ambition of prelats hath disturbed and broken this
order, and haue chalenged vnto them a lordship ouer the inheritance
or church of Christ, the congregations are euery day molested with
new contentions ; and ther appeareth no end, either of errours, or most
bitter debates. Gualter, Horn : 104*

I thinke, verilie, (saith Mr. Wheatonhall) Gualter, in these words
pointed with his finger espetially at England ; for no nation of Chris-
tendome, that is caled a Reformed-Church, hath had, or is like to haue,
such endless contentions and continuall errours, only through the
lordship and magnificent estate of lord-bishops ; which no Reformed
Church in all Europe hath retained but England. Whetenhall, pag :
127- f

Danasus $ saith, they do perfidiously depriue the church of her right,
who thrust a pastor on a people without their knowledg or consent ;
for they doe the church the greatest injurie when they spoyl her of
her judgment and voyce giueing ; who are therefore truly to be called
sacrilegious or church-robers. Vnto which he addeth : By all this it
appears, how that calling of ministers is none, or not lawfull, which is
made by the authority, letters, commandment and judgment of the
king alone, or queene, or the patrons, or bishope, or archbishop,
&c, as is vsed in England ; which (saith he) I speake with greefe.
M r Jacobs Attestation, § pag : 42* Mr. Caluin hath the like.

Truly (saith Mr. Caluin) this is a foule example, that out of the
court are sent bishops to possess churches ; and it should be the worke

* Rodolph Gualter, one of the early Swiss Reformers, was born at Zurich, 1529, and
died 1586. He wrote many works on Scripture, History, and Grammar, some of which
were early translated into English; among which is the one cited by Bradford, "An
hundred, threescore, and fifteene Homelyes or Sermons, vpon the Actes of the Apostles
written by Saint Luke; made by Rodulphe Gualthere Tigurine, and translated out of
Latine into our tongue for the commoditie of the English reader. By John Bridges,
London, 1572," foL (See Watt.) — Ed.

t Thomas Whetenhall wrote a Discourse on the Abuses in the Church of Rome,
1606, 4to. — Ed.

% Lambert Danaeus was a French Protestant Divine, born about the year 1530, and
died 1596. Many of his writings were translated into English in his time. Bradford
is here citing Danaeus through Jacob — Ed.

§ The author quoted is Henry Jacob, an English divine, who founded the Inde-
pendent Church, in London, in 1616. He wrote a number of works, among which is the
one cited in the text: " An Attestation of many Learned . . . Divines justifying this Doc-
trine, viz., that the Church-government ought to be always with the peoples free
consent." 1613. 8vo. Jacob is said to have died in Virginia, in 1624. — Ed.

432 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

of a godly prince to abstaine from such corruption ; for it is a wicked
spoyling of the church, when ther is thrust vpon any people, a bishop
whom they haue not desired, or, at least, with free voyce alowed. And
againe, it is tyrannous for any one man to appointe or make ministers
at his pleasure. Therefore (saith he) this is the most lawfull way,
that those be chosen by comone voyces, who are to take vpon them
any publick function in the church. Caluin on the '14* of the Acts, &
the *6- of the Acts. Whetenhall, page -144-

Francis Lambart saith, maruell not that I said ther be many
bishops in one city ; for verily euery city hath so many bishops as
it hath true preachers.

And againe he saith, euery parish (or congregation) ought to haue
their proper bishop, which should be chosen & confirmed by the people
& comunallitie of the church, of euery place. And to doe this, they
haue no need of letters, rings, seales, tokens, and such other things of
this kind, very much vsed, clean contrary to the word of God. And
so long they should be accounted for bishops, as they preach most
purely the gospell of the kingdom of God, from w c h if they swarue
and teach Strang doctrine, they ought to be deposed and put out of
them by whom they were chosen, euen of the comunality of the church
aforenamed.

And againe he saith, all the canons of the world canot lawfully
chose one bishop of the church of Jesus Christ ; and that the church
of God hath no ministers besides these, bishops and deacons. Wheten-
hall, pag # 87*

And Zuinglius saith, a church is taken for the seuerall congregations,
which conueniently meete togeather in some one place for the hearing
of the word, and receiuing of the sacraments. The Grecians call these
Parikias. And of this maner of church, Christ speaketh, Mat # 18*
Tell the church. And the Apostle Paull to the Corinthions. Whet :
pag «88 *

Peter Martire saith, we confesse the kies are giuen to the whole
church ; and by the kyes, he meaneth gouerment and ecclesiasticall
power.

He allso saith, without the consent of the church not any one can
be excomunicated. This right belongs to the church ; neither ought it
to be taken away from it. Jac. Attestation, page 'B4r He allso

* Bradford evidently here quotes Lambert (probably the author of "The Summe
Christianity," 1536), and Zuingli, through Whetenhall. — Ed.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 433

affirmeth that gouermente is a notable portion of the gospell, and not
the least part of Christian Religion ; and that the gospell seemeth
to be neclected of them, who put away from them so excelente a part
thereof. In his Epist : to the Lords of Polonia.

Also Caluin saith, in that forme of the church which the apostls
set downe we haue the only pattern of a true church ; from which if
any bend aside neuer so litle, he erreth. Epis : to Sadolet.*

Chemnicius saith, that Paul & Barnabas did not thrust ministers on
the church without their consent ; and that the election & vocation
of ministers by the historie of the apostles & their examples, appears
deadly to belong to the whole church ; and that this is the judgmet
& way of the apostolike, primitiue, and ancient church, concerning the
lawfull election & calling of ministers ; which way hath place in those
churches which are constituted according to the word of God.

Junius saith,t it is manifest that that way of chosing & calling min-
isters is most approued by the testimonie of holy scriptures, which
the apostles in old time kept in the churches. And when the bishops
did arogate that power to them selues, and depriue them of it, it was
the churches damage, injurie and shame. And what that way was, he
shewed before ; how that the whole church did chose, (that is, the
body, consisting of the eldership & people or comone sort) by equal &
comone voyces. Jacobs Attestion, pag '44*

Then he answereth some obiections : But some will say, the people
are ignorant of their duty and right herein. Let them be taught
(saith he) and they will vnderstand it. But they know not how to vse
it aright. Ans ; they will not know it euer, if they vse it neuer. But
they are factious often, and deuided into parts. Let them be redused
to peace by wholsome counsell, and let them be ruled by the authority
of the word, and the endeours of good men ; that their minds being
ordered, they may do that which is their right to doe. Page *46'

We might add many more (for the whole current of all those exel-

* " During his [Calvin's] stay at Strasburgh, he contiuued to give several marks of
his kind affection to the church of Geneva, as. appears, among other things, by the
answer he wrote in 1539 to the beautiful but artful letter of Cardinal Sadolet, Bishop of
Carpentras." " That letter is to be found in the volume which contains Calvin's small
works {opuscules)"; dated Sept. 1, 1539. (Bayle's Diet, enlarged, TV. 46.) — Ed.

j Chemnitius and Junius are here cited through Jacob, a copy of whose book,
belonging to the American Antiquarian Society, T have consulted. Mart. Chemnitius
wrote a number of theological works, published at Frankfort on the Maine. Francis
Junius was Professor of Divinity at Leyden, and a writer of distinction. He was born
in 1545, and died of the plague, at Leyden, in 1602. — Ed.

434 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

ent deuines and first lights and guids of the Reformed Churches, rune
in one stream this way). But these shall suffice. By which you may
see how, from the scriptures, they shew what a church is ; what power
it hath, both in chosing & ordaining or confirming their owne officers ;
and in deposing them, if the case so require ; as also to receiue the
worthy, and to excommunicat the guilty, when need requires. And
that it is not only an injurie and damage for any to depriue them of
this their right & libertie ; but that it was no lese then sacriledge and
tyranus vsurpation in the lordly hirarchie so to doe.

Yong-Men.

We see plainly these testimones are very full against the power
and vsurpation of the prelacie ; and as clear for the approbation and
lawfullnes of the Congregationall way.

But it is objected, wheras you seeme to lay so much waight on the
name or terme lord-bishope, that it is but a title of reuerence, and
may as well be giuen to bishops now, as the Hebrew Adoni, the Greeke
xvQiog, the Latin Dominus, and the Dutch Here ; [&] may sometimes,
and haue been giuen in way of honour vnto them, without offence.

Ancient-Men.

It is not so much the name, as the thing, that is stood vpon. They
are called spirituall-lords, and chaleng spirituall power and sole
authority ouer the churches ; which belongs only to the Lord Jesus
Christ, the only law-giuer of his church. Neither is the consequence
good, for our English terme Lord, & Lordship, vsually and properly
implies power and authority, and sole rule & gouerment ouer others ;
wheras these forain terms, ">:;%> avgwg, Monsieu r , Dominus, Here,
&c, doe not alwaies so signifie, but often and more vsually importe no
more but M r or Sir, in our sense and phrase and maner of speaking.

It is obserueable what Socrates (that famouse historian) saith in the
proeme of his -6- booke. # The fauorers of prelats (saith he) will blame
vs for not entitling bishops, most godly, most holy, and such like epi-
thetons, &c. But I will lay asid, (saith he) these swelling titles and
tye my selfe to the truth of historic So farr was he from those
flatering titles of your grace, your lordship, your honour, &c. the

* Socrates (Scholasticus) an ecclesiastical historian, born about the middle of the
fifth century. His " Church History " is probably the book here cited. It was trans-
lated into English as early as 1585. — Ed.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 435

name of lord was scarce giuen to kings and emperours in those days,
much less to bishops & prelats.

Yong-Men.

But our bishops would seeme to deriue them selues and callings
from deuiue authority of the scriptures, as the apostles successors.

Ancient-Men.

So doth the pope from Peter, (as you heard before) but they will
neuer be able to proue their lordly power, nor metropolitan or diocesan
jurisdiction, from the scriptures. Their pedigree will be found to be
of much later date. Our owne late lawes will sooner show the founda-
tion a rise of our late bishops, and their callings and jurisdiction, then
the scriptures.

It was inacted by a statute made in the 'I* year of the raigne of
queene Elizabeth, that all jurisdiction, priuiledges, sup[e]reorities, &
prehemiencs, spirituall or ecle>iasticall, as by any spirituall or ecclesi-
asticall power or authority hath heretofore been (understand by the
popes decrees, or prelats canons) or lawfully may be exercised or
rsed for the vissitation of the ecclesiastcall state & persons, & for
reformation, order and correction of the same ; and of all maner of
errores, heresies, schismes, abusses, offences, contemptes & enormities ;
shall for euer by authority of this present-parlemente, be anexed to
the crowne of this realme. 'I* of Eliza: Chap *1* fol:1001*

2 ly By vertue of this statute the queen was to assigne shuch per-
sons by her letters patents as she thought fitt, to exercise this ecclesi-
asticall jurisdiction.

3 ly - By the same power comited vnto her, she did and might cause
such as she thought fitt, to be elected & ordained for bishops, arch-
bishops, &c. And in the •■8* of her raign, because some doubts were
and might be made about the proceedings therin, she had power to
dispence (and did) with all causes or doubts of any imperfection or
disabilitie that can or may in any wise be objected against the same.
The -8- of her raige, fol : 1068-

Also it was by an acte of parlement prouided, in the '2o* of Henery
the -8- that the archbishop of Canterbury, for the time being, and his
successors, should haue power & authority fro time to time, by their
discretions, to giue, grant & dispose, to the king, his heires & successors,
all maner of such licences, dispensation, &c. as heretofore had ben
vsed and accustumed to be had & obtained, &c. from the Sea of Rome,

436 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

And also the aforesaid archbishop, he or his sufficent deputies, might
grant all maner of licences, dispensations, faculties, &c. for any such
cause or mater, &c. as hath bene accustumed (to any of the kings
subjects) to be had at the Sea of Rome, or by authority of the same.
An°: 25- of Hen- 8- Chap- 18-

Thus you may see from what botome and foundation their power,
callings, and jurisdition did arise, whatsoeuer else is pretended or
pleaded otherwise.

And togeather with these functions & callings, they did retaine
their commissarie courts, courts of faculties, &c. with all their officers,
as chancelors, comissaries, officalls, doctors, proctors, registers, aparitors,
&c, in which they did examene causes, pase excomunications, punish
or absolue at their pleasure, grant licences, lay censures vpon persons,
& take them of againe for money. Yea, they had allso their prisons to
comite men too when they pleased, (in which they were neither like
the apostells, or their true successors). Their courts were vsually full
of bawdery, bribery, tiranie & oppression, and a continuall snare and
vexation to the godly. They followed more the pops law then the
rules of the gospell ; as one of their cheefe procters (in his answer to
the Abstracte, . . . . ) * affirmes, that the canon-law, is the commone-
law ecclesiasticall.

They would needs haue the pontificall and preistly apparell con-
tinued, and held vp, to the great offence of the godly at home and
abroad ; as copes, four-cornerd-capps, surplisses, albs, canonicail coats,
& such like trash, fitter for the whore of Rome, then the Church of
Christ.

Also they stood stifly to maintaine a company of vaine ceremonies,
profitable for nothing (excepte to maintaine their courts, and fill their
catch-pouls purses,) ; such as the crose in baptisme, kneeling at the Lords
Supper, wearing the surplise, keeping of holy-days, bishoping or con-
firming] of children, &c. These & a number more, with stricte con-
formitie to the coinone-seruice, were more vrged and looked too, then
ether the powerfull preaching of the word of God & sound doctrine,
or holines of life & conuersation. Nay, it is notoriusly knowne, (to
the dishonour of God & the Gospell) that painfull and zelous ministers
were silenced, and godly professers reproched with nic-names of
Puritanes, Browists, precissions, and shuch like contumelies, for these
things.

* Blank in the MS. — Ed.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 437

Yong-Men.

We beleeue these things which you haue related, concerning the
maner of their callings and grounds of their proceedings, haue not
been so comonly knowne, or at least, considered by many. We confess
we haue been ignorante in many of these things, and now doe not
maruell they found such oppossition, but rather that they were so long
forborne. But we find that many plead, and are of opinion, that
diocesan-bishops haue been from the apostles time, and that Timothy
& Titus were such, and some of the apostles them selues were such.

Ancient-Men.

The apostles were ouer all churches, and had a larger commission;
Mat. 28. and euangelists (such as Tim : & Titus) were also extraor-
dinary men, & imployed by the apostles for the preaching of the
gospell & establishing of the churches. And it should be dirogatorrie
to their callings to be tyed to a perticuler flocke, as ordinary bishops
were. Acts '20*

But the truth is, ther were no proper diocesan-bishops in the world
till the Councell of Nice, (which was in the *4* centuarie,) nor any
diocesses deuided, till then ; that patriarchs were deuised, and other
sup[e]reorities, for good ends, to watch against, and supress erours &
heresies ; but it being but a humane deuice, and wanting warrent from
the word of God, it proued fruitles, and was a meanes to pufe vp the
bishops with prid, & make them swell with ambition, and serued to
aduance antichrist vnto his seat.

And yet it was a long time after, ere that they did assume such
lordly power, to exclude their presbitors in their adminstrations, or
the people from their voyces in elections and other rights ; as those
that are aquainted with histories doe well kowe ; and as came to pass
in after times, espetially after the exaltation of antichrist to his hight.

It is not denied but that many churches before these times might
grow too bulkie, like vnweldy bodyes ; and many bishops that were of
eminent parts for gifts, and in eminente places, were much resorted to
for counsell and help in many cases,* and they gaue them honour and
respecte, as their merits did well deserue. But that ther were any
proper diocesan bishops, with sole power & jurisdiction ouer others
before these times of Constantine, they will neuer be able to proue ;
what soeuer florishes they or any for them may make or pretend.

* & sometimes tooke too much vpon them. — Bradford's note. — Ed.

438 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

Yong-Men.

Some thinke the Presbiteran gouerment (which is by Classis, and
Sinods) to be as oppressing and burthensome as this of the prelats.
We pray you shew vs in what they differ.

Ancient-Men.

We shall shew you what M r Gillespie, a Scotch-minister, saith
herin. The prelate (saith he) was but one, yet, 'l ly - he claimed the
power of ordination and jurisdiction as proper to him selfe in his owne
diocesse. But we giue the power of ordination & church censures
not vni, but vnitai, not to one, but to an assemblie gathered into one.

2 ly - The prelate assumed a perpetuall precedancy and priuiledge of
moderating sinods, which we deney to any one man.

3 ly - The prelate did not aske or receiue aduice from his fellow pres-
biters, but when he pleased.

4 ly - He made him selfe pastor to the diocesse (consisting it may be
of some hundreds of congregations) holding that the ministers of per-
ticuler congregations did preach and administer sacrements in his
name by verue & authority from him, as his vicars, because he could
not acte in euery congregation. But the Presbiterall gouerment ac-
knowledged no pastoriall charge of preaching and ministring the
sacraments to more congregations then one.

5 ly - As the prelats deney ed the power & authority of pastors, so
they vterly deney the very offices of ruling elders and deacons for
taking care of the pore in perticuler congregations.

6 ly - They did not acknowledg congregationall elderships, nor any
power of discipline in perticular congregations, which the Presbiterians
doe.

7 ly - They intrude pastors ofttimes vpon churches against their con-
sente, which the Presbiteriens doe not.

8 ly " They ordaine ministers without any perticuler charge, which the
Presbiteriall gouerment doth not.

9 ly - In sinods they doe not allowe any but the clergie alone.

10 ly - The prelats declined to be accountable to, and censurable by,
either chapters, diocessan, or nationall sinods ; but in Presbiteriall
gouer* all are called to accounte, in presbiteries, provinciall, and
nationall assemblies ; and none are exempted from sinodicall censures
in case of scandalle and obstinacie.

1 l ly - The prelats power was not merely ecclesiasticall ; they were
lords of parlemente and held ciuill places in the state, which we
condem.

1870.] governor Bradford's dialogue. 489

12 ly - The prelats were not chosen by the church ; presbyters are.

13 ly - The prelates did presume to make lawes binding the con-
science, euen in things indiferent ; and did persecute, imprison, fine,
depose, excommunicate men for certaine rites & ceremonies acknowl-
edged by themselues to be indifferent (seting the will and authority of
the law-makers asside). This the Presbiteriall gouerment abhoreth,
saith he.

14. The prelats did excomunicate for monie-maters, for trifles, w c h
the Presbiteriall gouerment condemneth.

15. The prelates did not alow men to examene by the judgmente
of Christian & priuate discretion, their decrees & canons, so as to
search the scriptures and looke at the warrents, but would needs haue
men thinke it enough to know the things to be coinanded by them
that are in place and power ; but Presbyterall gour* : (saith he) doth
not lord it ouer mens consciences, but admiteth & comendeth the
searching of the scriptures, whether these things it holds forth be not
so ; and doth not presse mens consciences with sic volo, sic jubeo, but
desire they may doe in faith what they doe.

1 6. The prelates held vp pluralities, non-residences, &c, which the
Presbyteriall gouer 1 . doth not.

17. As many of the prelates did them selues neclect to preach the
gospell, so they kepte vp in diuerse places a reading-non-preaching
ministrie, which the Presbyteriall gouerment suffereth not.

18. They opened the dore of the ministrie to diuerse scandalous
arminianized and popishly affected men, and locked the dore vpon
many worthy to be admited. The Presbyteriall gouerment, (saith he)
herein is as contrary to theirs, as theirs was to right.

19. Their officiall-courts, comissaries, &c, did serue them selues as
heires to the sones of Eli ; thou shalt give it me now, and if not, I will
take it by force. The Presbyteriall gouerment (saith he) hatteth such
proceedings.

20. The prelates and their high-comission-court (saith he) did
assume potestatem utriusq gladij, the power of both the temporal an[d]
civill sword ; the Presbyteriall gouerment medleth with no ciuill nor
temporall punishments. Arons-Rod. fol: 179.*

Thus we haue giuen you many of the differences between these tow

* George Gillespie was a minister at Edinburgh, and a member of the celebrated
Westminster Assembly of Divines. Among his many books was the one cited by Brad-
ford: "Aaron's Rod blossoming; or. the Divine Ordinance of Church Government
vindicated " ; London, 1646. — Ed.

440 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

gourments, by one of them selues, and in his owne words. And
sundrie more might be made ; neither will we now skane the practise
of the Presbyterieans, how answerable it is in all things to some of

these grounds.

Yong-Men.

These are very deepe charges and wound sorely this National!
Gouermente by prelates and lord bishops & their substitutes. And it
is like if the head be thus corrupte and distempred the body cannot be
sounde, but ill-affected. We desire to hear something thereof, and
then that you will proceede to speake some thing of the Presbiterians,
«uid their gouermente.

Ancient-Men.

We shall not say much herein, because it hath bene obuious to
euery mans eyes and eares, and some testimonies might T)e thought
partiall. Take therefore only these tow ; first, Archb. Whitgift
saith, now the church is full of hypocrites, dissemblers, drunkards,
whoremongers, ignorant-persons, papistes. atheistes, and such like.
Ans : to the Admoition, pag -44- 45- #

And Doctor Bilson saith, to our churches comes all sortes, atheistes,
hypocrites, &c, all which filth, (saith M r . Jacob,) ought verily to be
imputed to non-residents and pluralists ; and that a diocesan bishop
must needs be a great pluralist and non-resident him selfe, for he hath
the proper charge of soules, ouer all his cirquite ; that is, ouer many
hundred congregations, and for the most part is neuer with them, nor
so much as euer saw their faces. Jacobs Attestation, fol : 181*

And M r Caluin saith, that it is a prodigious and monstrous mish-
cheefous wickednes, vtterly against God, against nature, and against
the ecclesiasticall gouerment, that one arrante theefe should sitt ouer
diuers churches-together, and that he should be called their pastor,
which cannot be present with his flock though he would. Wetenhall,
pag *145'

Thus you see the complection of this Nationall-Church ; and the
causes therof, in a great measure ; and what just ground ther hath
been of complainte and bearing witnes against the same,- by those who
haue suffered hard measure for so doing, from men ; but their reward
is with the Lord.

* John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote a number of books, among which
was " An Answere to a certan Libell, entitled, An Admonition to the Parliament," Lon-
don, 1571. He died at Lambeth, 1604. — Ed.

1870.] governor bradford 3 dialogue. 441

Yong-Men.

We must acknowledg you haue giuen vs more light in these things
then we in many things saw before, and we doubt not but such as haue
been faithfull to the Lord & his truth shall reap the fruit of their
labours. But we pray you to procceed to speak of the Presbiterian
gouermente.

OF THE PRESBYTERIANS.

Anciente-Men.

The Reformed Churches, vnder the Presbyterian gouerment, we
esteeme and reuerence the as the true churches of Christ ; being for
the maine rightly constituted and reformed according to the word of
God ; at least in those grounds and principles laid downe and held
forth bv those excelente men and shining lightes which the Lord
reaised vp in the first times of Reformation ; as we haue allready seen
by the testimonies of sundrie of them, & by many more may appeare.
But it were to be wished that many things had been better examined
and mended according to the true standard and right patterne of the
word of God, as we doubt not but many of them selues were of the
same minde, and were contented to beare with, and suffer many things
which, in regard of the condition of the times and places in which they
liued, they knew not how to help or mende. And what hath been
left vnreformed at first hath seldom been mended affterwards, but
rather grown worse, as too much experience hath showne. And this
that excelent and holy man Peter Martyre well kewe, when he write
to the ministers of Polonia. Who seeth not (saith he) that when
" a mater is defered, desired occations are lost. Wherfore bestire
" your selues with speede, Breethreji, pluck vp by the rootes all
"'superstition, and false opinions ; let the euill seeds & rotten roots be
" cut vp euen in the verie begining, for if they be neglected at the
" first (I know what I say) they are with dificulty taken away after-
" ward I haue seene some (saith he) which haue pared away the
" leaues, flowers & fruits of superstition, but haue spared the roots,
" which haue afterward sprunge vp againe, to the great hurt of the
" Lords vinyeard. Epis : to the Ministers of Poland, pag -87- Well
had it bsen had this good and holsom counsell bene better followed,
both by them and others.

442 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

Yong-Men.

We desire to know how them selues describe or speake of the
church ; and how the same may be knowne and discerned.

•Ancient-Men.

Vsually they distinguish betweene the Catholick-church and a per-
ticuler- church. The Catholick church is some time taken by them
for all the electe of God, that euer haue been, or shall be, euen all the
saints that euer haue been or shall be in the world ; and some time, for
all the faithfull that liue disperced through the whole world in any
present age.

But of a perticuler church (which most concernes our mater in hand)
you haue heard before, how that Zuinglius & others say, the church
is taken for the seuerall congr[eg]ations which conueniently meete to-
geather in some one place, for the hearpng] of the word, and receiuing
the sacraments, which are by the Greecians called parikias, & of this
maner of church Christ speaketh, Mat* 18* Tell the church and the
Apostle "I* Cor* 5*

And the French Confession, Art *27* hath these words, We affirme
out of the word of God, that the church is a company of the faithfull,
w c h agree togeather in following the word of God & imbracing pure
religion, wherin they allso dayly profite, &c. Herman : Conf : page -320'

And in the Belgia Confession it is said the true church may be dis-
cerned from the false by these notes : First, if the pure preaching of
the Gospell doe florish in it ; if it haue the lawfull administration of the
sacraments according to Christs institution ; if it doe use the right
ecclesiasticall discipline for the restraining of uice ; finaly, if it doe
square all things to the rule of Gods word, refusing whatsoeuer is
contrarie to it, &c. Hermon : Conf: page *322- #

All the rest doe for the most part agree herein, as may be seen
more at large in the -10- section of the Church. Hermon: of Conf:
•306- & following.

And the Scotch ConfFesion saith, whersoeuer the former notes
are seen and of any time continue, ther, without all doubte, is the
true church of Christ (be the number neuer so few) who, according to
his promise, is in the midst of them. Not in the vniversall (say they),

* " An Harmony of the Confessions of tho Faith of the Christian and Reformed
Churches in Europe. Translated out the Latine. Added the Confession of the Church
of Scotland." 4to , 1643. — Ed.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 443

of which we haue spoken before, but perticuler, such as were in
Corinth, Galacia, Ephesus, and other places, in which the ministrie
was planted by Paull, and were by him selfe named the churches of
God, &c. Hermonie of Conf : pag *18*

Tong-Men.

Seeing they hold this ground of perticuler churches, and that ther
are in these churches a presbyterie or eldership, with power of dis-
cipline, as you haue now showed vs, & before in the *6* differencs
made by Mr. Gillespie betweene them selues and the prelats, ther
may seeme herein no difference betweene them and those of the Con
gregationall-way. If ther be, we pray you show ts wherin it lyeth.

Ancient-Men.

We shall show you how the afforesaid author, ]\tr. Gillespie, giues a
hint herof; though he doth but touch it by the way. What is it
(saith he) that can denominate many perticuler visible churches or
congregations to be one visible minist[e]riall flock or church, vnlesse it
be their vnion and association vnder one ecclesiasticall gouerment?
No doubte (saith he) they had the administration of the word and
sacraments partitiue or seuerall. Nor doe I deney (saith he) but they
had a partitiue seuerall gouermente, which did denominate them to be
one visible ecclesiasticall flock. Aarons-Rodd, fol: 298*

By which you may perceiue vpon what botome their Presbyteriall
gouerment is founded ; for though they hould (& that rightly), that
euery perticuler church ought to haue their owne officers, viz. elders
& deacons, and of their elders some are to teach & others for to rule
& gouerne, of which their presbyterie or eldership doth consiste, and
these exercise some kind of discipline and gouermente amongest them
selues ;

Yet they hold that such perticuler churches are to enter into a bond
of association with other churches ; and by vertu of this conssociation
they erecte classises and sinods, both prouinciall and nationall, and
vpon the same ground some ascend higher to generall councells or
sinods. And vnto these they ascribe superior power & jurisdiction
one ouer another, to whom they alow apeales from one to an other,
till they come to the highest. And out of their perticuler presbiteries
the perticuler churches chose delegates for the classes, & so other
superior courts ; by which means, (say they) all the members of each
church thus conssociate become subjecte to, and are bound to obey

444 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

the decrees and sentences giuen by the seuerall superior & higher

courts or jurisdictions ; and the higher may annull & resinde any acte

of the inferior.

Yong-Men.

Doe they leaue it as a mater only of conueniencie thus for churches
to conssociat, or [doe] they count it a duty, & of necessity to be done ;
and if so, what grounds haue they from the scriptures for the same ?

Anc : Men.

They say they are bound to it by the same reason that euery be-
leeuer is bound to joyne him selfe to some church or other. But we
see not how this reason will inforce it, for a Christian cannot be
edified and injoye the cheefe means of saluation without fellowship
with some church ; but a perticuler church may be well enough both
edified and gouerned by her oune elders without association with &
subordination to others. Againe, euer[y] beleeuer is left free to what
church he will make choyse to joyne him selfe vnto (or, at least, should
be) ; but they obtained an ordinance of parlemet in England, An : 1647*
that a comitie therin spetified, should deuide the respectiue counties
into distinct classicall presbiteries ; and, being approued by the coin-
itie of the Lords & Comones according to an ordinance of the Lords
& Comones, dated the *19' of Aug: 1645* the said classicall pres-
bitries shall haue power to constitute congregationall elderships within
their seuerall precincts. And the said comitie of Lords & Comones
had power by the same ordinance to bound the prouinciall assemblies
in the kingdome, and to increase the number of delegates which are or
shalbe sente to any prouinciall assembly, as they shall thinke fitt. # See
the ordinance printed that year.

By which it seems it is rather of humane policie or prudencie, then
by any ground from scripture. They tell vs indeed that the church
of Jerusalem consisted of more congregations then one ; and were all
vnder one Presbyteriall gouerment, and therfore called one church,
because ther is mention made of many belieuers ther, and many
apostles ther, and many languages spoaken ther, &c. *2* instance they
giue in the Church of Ephesus, in which (say they) were many
churches vnder the gouerment of one presbiterie, because Paula
preached long ther, and ther is mention of a church in the house of

* See Neal's " History of the Puritans," Toulmin's ed., London, 1837, Vol. II. 371,
372. — Ed.

1870.] GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S DIALOGUE. 445

Priscila & Aquila. And that those many congregations were one
church and vnder one Presbyteriall gouermente appeares, (say they)
out of the Reir 2- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- compared with Acts- 20- 17- 28-
But how soundly these & such like instances proue this thing we con-
fesse we see not.

And as litle waight seemes to be in this, how from Mat *18* as is
holden forth the subordination of an offending brother to a perticuler
church ; so allso it holds forth by paritie of reason the subordination
of a congregation to a superiour assembly.

And in the seuerall assemblies for the gouerment of the church it
is agreeable to the word of God that apeals be made from the inferiour
to the superiour respectiuely ; and the prof brought for the subordina-
tion of assemblies, proues the lawfullness of apeals. An other
instance is brought from the Apostle Peter, his writing to the Chris-
tians in seuerall prouinces ; yet he cals them the flock, not flocks, and
exhortheth the elders to feede the flocke of God, which dependeth on
them, or which is amonge you. ■!* Pet* 5* 1* 2* But what doth this
euince more then the feeding of the seuerall and respectiue flocks,
which they were sett ouer in their seueral places ? as in Acts *20* 28*
These are the cheefests grounds that we find are giuen by the Assembly
of Deuines, or others that joyne with them, in setting vp this Presby-
teriall gouerment now in our owne countrie, in England. But they
see to vs (we must confesse) very weake and obscure, to rear such
high buildings vpon. Such waighty things had neede of stronger
foundations. It is obserued by some that are lerned, that through
out the New-testament this word rtoeafivTSQiov, is found but in three
places ; wherof ther is but one that houldeth out any thing of the
gouerment in hand, and in that place ther is the naked word only, with-
out the addition of any such expression, greater, leser, superior, inferior,
or any kind of adjuncte, that can possible put a thought in vs of more
presbiteries then one.

TVe cannot be said (say they) therefore to be cleer in our rule,
when we are forced, out of one word, and but once vsed, to raise so
many thrones or formes of gouermente. See The Reas : of the Disscent-
ing Breetheren, fol : 32- & -3- 40- *

Againe, we find not in the scriptures the name of classis, prouinciall
smock, nationall sinods, or assemblies, generall councels. It was held

* " The Reasons presented by the Dissenting Brethren against certain Propositions
concerning Presbyterial Government, and the Proof of them," &c, 1648. See Palfrey's
Hist. New England, Vol. II. p. 92. — Ed.

446 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.

to be a good argument against the prelats that the name of Archbishop,
Lord-Bishop, &c, nor the thing, was not to be found in the scriptures.
Much lese doe we find in the scriptures one presbyterie to be sett
ouer an other : as first presbyteries, then -2* classes, *3' prouinciall
sinods, -4- nationall assemblies, and lastly a generall-councell as the
highest court aboue all.

We find not in the scriptures of the New-testamet any institution
or comand for the erecting or establishing of such seuerall standing
courts and tribunals for the gouerment of the church, with such super-
iour power one ouer another. Neither doe all the Reformed Churches
thinke them al to be of that necessitie : for the Geneua rest in the
classicall ; the French goe no higher then the nationall ; and the Low-
countries are said to haue seldome any nationall, or desire to haue
them. And it is affirmed that it is generally granted by the Presby-
terians them selues, that for -50* years after Christ, and in the apostls
times, ther was but one kind of presbyterie. All w c h may seeme to
hold forth that this is rather a prudentiall way of mens owne chusing
for their suposed good, then any stricte obligation from the word of
God to bind their consciences ; for then it ought to bind all vnto all,
if they can attaine the same.

Yong-Men.
We [des]ire to hear some of the answeres that may be giuen to the
former grounds propossed by them.

Ancient-Men.
The Presbyteriens them selues hold, that no pastoriall charge of
preaching the word and administring the sacraments, is laid vpon any
pastor, but to one concregation, according to Acts *20* 28* Take heed
to your selues and to all the flock wherof the Holy Ghost hath made
you ouerseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased
with his owne blood ; as you may see in the -4- difference put by M r -
Gilespie, betweene them and the prelats. And by the like reason
his gouerment should be extended no further, as to classes, &c,
synods, lower and higher. The power of the apostles in ruling in all
churches w T as from their large comission, and extendible with thir
comission to preach in all churches, they not being tyed to one flock as
ordinary teachers are. Againe, it is said in Acts -6* the apostles caled
the multitud of the desciples, &c. And they chose the •!• for deacons,
&c. [torn] if this was a presbyterion, [torn] church, consisting of
many pert[icul]er congregations, as they affirme, then these should

1870.]

447

be deacons to all these perticuler churches (wich is contrary to their
own principles), and so there should be as well a Diaconat-church as
a Presbyteriall church.

Againe, the power of the keys (both for feeding & ruling) was
giuen together to ecclesias primse, the first church. And ther must be
a first before there could be a conssotiation ; and why should ordina-
tion and excommunication, &c, be after taken from them and giuen to
the classis ? But we cannot stand in giuing reasons in this breefe dis-
cource ; we reffer you to the Reasons of the Discenting Breethren
in Assembly of Deuines.

Yong-Men.

But doe the Independants allow of no association or comunion with
other churches ?

Ancient-Men.

Yes, you shall hear what Mr. Burtonf(that reu d and holy-man, & late
sufferer) saith in answer to Mr. Prinne : We hould (saith he) comu-
nion and association of churches, for counsell in doubts, and comfort in
distres ; but we deney such combination of churches as wherby the
true liberty of euery perticular church is taken away. And this com-
union of churches doth no lese (if not more) preuente heresies
schismes & injustice, then your Presbyteriall, saith he. Vind* fol* 18*

All those perticuler churches which the apostles planted, (saith he)
were all of absolute authority amongst them selues respectiuely, and
equall, one to the other. You can shew vs no rule or exampell to the
contrary. And for the patterne in the primatiue churches after the
apostles, we are not curious to seeke it in the corrupte current of suc-
ceeding ages, when we find it in the pure fountaine. Yet the cen-
trists say (Cent. 'I* 7* Tit* de Consoci: Eccle.) that the gouerment of
churches in the 2 d .10O year was allmost popular ; euerie church had
equall power of ordaining or casting out, if need were, those ministers
they had ordained ; with other things very materiall, (saith he) in tha*
whol title, & in the title, de Sinodis Priuatis.

And for the best Reformed Churches, if in them we canot find that
paterne so fully followed as the scripture holds forth vnto vs, (saith
he) we craue leaue without prejudice to take it as we find it in the
word, without the least variation.

* The Rev. Henry Burton, who, in 1637, with Prynne and Bastwick, suffered from
the tyranny of the High-Commission Court. The title of the work cited is: "A Vin-
dication of Churches commonly called Independent, in an Answer to Mr. Prynne," &c,
1644.— Ed.

448 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.

And you may know, in the begining of Protestant reformation, how
could they so clearly see in the dawning, as we may now in the meri-
dian, if we will but open our eyes ? Yet the Reformed Churches haue
taken vp, one, or other of them, vpon the mater, the maine things we
contend for. The church of Holland receiue none to the Lord's table
nor to haue a vote as a member of that church, but such as first giue
satisfaction to the eldership, and then to the congregation, and haue a
forme of a couenant propounded by them. And the French-churches
exercise excomunication in their perticular congregations, though with
liberty of appeale, so as no long debate need to be, if but Christs
word alone may take place. Vindication of the churches caled Inde-
pendent, fol: 19* 20* Ther is no case, (saith he) can fall in any
church which hath not as many helps by a free comunion of churches
wherin euery churches peculiar libertyes and priuiledges are pre-
serued as they ought to be ; as any you can name to be in your
obligatorie combination of churches, wherby the liberty of each church
is by comone consent sould ouer to others, by which it ceaseth to be a
free church of Christ vnder his only jurisdiction and gouermente. So
as hereby great mischeefes may redound euen to the purest church,
when once things come to be carried by the vote of a generall or class-
icall assembly of deuines, swaying things beyond the rule and stretch-
ing them beyond their line. Famous was that saying of Nazianzens,
that he neuer say* " any good to come of generall councels," because,
comonly, camelion-like, they chang their hue with the nearest object.

But some may object (saith Mr. Burton) that one church, standing
by it selfe, is more subjecte to fall into errour, then when combined
with other churches. To which he answers, that euery perticuler
church injoying its owne freedome with out combination with other
churches, may much longer preserue it selfe from danger when it hath
its free choyse in matters of difference or difficultie to consulte only
with those churches which it knowes to be most sound and orthodox,
then when it is fast bound & incircled with this or that combination of
churches ; being in number twelue or twenty, more or lese ; whose
votes must carrie euery controuersie according to the seuerall num-
bers of such and such, at all aduenture. Fol : 20- 21*

Yong-Men.

We desire you would be pleased more fully to let vs vnderstand
what the centuarists found in their search here about; for many think
ther is nothing of antiquitie in this case.

* Sic — Ed.

1870.] governor Bradford's dialogue. 449

Ancient-Men.

Thus writs another hereof, Insigniores Ecclesice, &c. They which
were more eminent churches (say they) were in some honour be-
cause of the apostles that taught in them, and because of their
,ministers, that were more excellent for learning and constancy ; and
likewise of the benifits that those churches did afford to other neigh-
bour churches. But they had no other power ouer other churches
then by mutuall offices in things belonging to edification of the whole
church, to afford them their help ; and then instances in perticular
churches.

2. The churches in the next age after the apostles. Cent* 2* Chap- 7*
tit : Consoci : If (say they) any man looke into the approued authors
of this age, he shall find that the form of gouerment was allmost like a
popular gouerment ; for euery church had equall power to preach the
word of God purely, to administer the sacraments, to absolue and
excomunicat heretiques & wicked men, to elect, call and ordaain minis-
ters, and vpon just ground to depose them ; to call assemblies & sinods
in doubtfull things and that were controuersall ; to desire the judgments
of others in determining them. Further, the neighboure churches,
for charity and edification sake, not for any superior iurisdiction, but
for the comand of Christ concerning mutuall loue, in ther necesitie
craued the help of their nighbour churches and also afforded theirs ;
and in more waighty questions, all the churches or elders of that pro-
uince, or else most of the teachers, came together and determined by
comone aduice what was to be done. The churches that were farther
off, in other prouinces, consult with other churches by letters, which
they did generally, or by comone consent subscrib.

And in tit : de Sinodis Priuatis, each church (that things might be
better ordered) had their synod, or assemblies, or church-metings, in
which the pastor, the elders, the deacons, and also the people did
deliberate & determine of things belonging to the gouermente of the
church.

Thus you may see the churches of the Independent-way are not
(besids the scriptures, which is the surest anchor-hould,) voyd of
antiquitie.

Yong-Men.

We are glad that these thinges are thus cleared vp vnto vs. And
seeing you haue some of you liued in Holand, and we perceiue ther are
differences amongst the Presbyterians them selues, we desire you to
informe vs of their practisse in that cuntrie.

450 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. ("Oct.

Ancient-Men.

First, we conceiue that those *7* reue d men in ther answer to the
Assemblie of Deuines, speake much within compass, when they say,
that not the '10- part in the Low-Countries are church members. For,
though it seemes, in Scotland, and according to the modle of our nue
structure in England, all within the circle & compase of their classeses
or other diuisions, new or old, they intend them as members, (only the
scandalus shall be suspended from the Lords table) yet it is not so
ther ; for they com pell none, nor admite any but such as freely offer
them selues ; and those are examined of ther faith & knowledg, first
by the consistorie, and then make a breefe confession in the publick
assembly. And though ther city assemblies be very great, so as they
cannot well know all their members, yet when they come to the Lords
table they repaire to the consistorie, or elders, and ther receiue a
token of lead, with a priuate marke, which they must giue in, when
they come to pertake, by which they are knowne to be members, &
without exception. Also in the case of excommunication, though the
bussines be handled in the consistorie or classes, yet the sentence is
made know in the congregation, & the cause ; and the like in the case
of release or absolution. Their meetings are in great temples or
churches, in the cities, (like the biger sort of ours in England) and if
ther be -2* *3- or *4' of them in a citie, yet the people assembled in them
are counted but one church or body ; and if ther be but *3 • 4* or more,
teaching elders or preachers, yet they teach to them all in coinone as
one flock, and so shift places by turnes (by agreement amonest them
selues) at one plase one day, and at another the next day, and in ( the
fore none here, and the afternoone ther. And sometimes the people
will shift their quarters also as they affecte the men. Their rulling
elders vsually are but for -3- years, and besids what they doe in coinone
in the consistorie, with the other elders, each of them is assigned his
quarter in the city, vnto which all the members